Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Apache Apache, OK

Apache is a town in southern Caddo County, Oklahoma, about twenty-three miles north of Lawton at the intersection of U.S. Highway 62/281 and State Highway 19.

The Apache townsite was reserved before the opening of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Reservation on August 1, 1901, at the recommendation of land lottery director William A. Richards, who hoped the village would be named for him - instead, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway officials gave the town the name Apache.

Apache's first officials were elected on the evening of August 6, 1901, in a meeting on the corner of Summit and Evans streets, and the town was incorporated on July 22, 1902.

In 1902, Apache built the first eight-room brick schoolhouse in Caddo County.

Apache has always been an agricultural center, with wheat and cattle as its primary economic base.

Apache is the home of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe's headquarters; tribal members have included the celebrated artist Allan Houser and cultural leader Mildred Cleghorn.

Apache's population peaked at 1,616 in 2000, down from an earlier high of 1,560 in 1980, after dipping as low as 919 in 1920.

The population of Apache was 1,038 at the April 2020 census, down from 1,444 in 2010.

Two Apache properties are listed in the National Register of Historic Places: the Amphlett Brothers Drug and Jewelry Store and the Apache State Bank.

Apache covers about 2 square miles in the southwestern Oklahoma plains.