Biohazard Cleanup Near Hawks Landing Edmond, OK

Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, with a population of 94,428 at the 2020 census — a 16 percent increase from 2010 — making it the fifth most populous city in Oklahoma.

Edmond began in 1887 as a Santa Fe Railroad water and coaling station placed at the highest point on the rail line in Oklahoma County, so steam trains could accelerate downhill leaving in either direction.

The station was officially named on March 28, 1887, for Edmond Burdick, the Santa Fe's traveling freight agent, and settlers adopted the name when the town formed after the Land Run of April 22, 1889.

Edmond built the first public schoolhouse in Oklahoma Territory, completed in August 1889; its first class of 19 students met on September 16, 1889, and the one-room schoolhouse is preserved today as a museum.

Edmond is also home to Oklahoma Territory's first church building, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, dedicated on June 24, 1889.

The Edmond Sun was founded by Milton W. "Kicking Bird" Reynolds on July 18, 1889, and became the state's oldest continuously published newspaper dating from territorial days.

The University of Central Oklahoma traces its start to December 24, 1890, when the Territorial Legislature created the Territorial Normal School in Edmond; its first class of 23 students met on November 9, 1891, in the town's Methodist church.

UCO's Old North tower, opened for classes on January 2, 1893, was the first building constructed for higher education in Oklahoma Territory, ahead of the first buildings at both OU and Oklahoma State.

Today the University of Central Oklahoma is the state's third-largest university, enrolling more than 12,000 students on a roughly 210-acre campus in Edmond.

Historic U.S. Route 66 ran through Edmond along Second Street before turning south toward Oklahoma City.