Tag: Altus
Altus is a city in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County.
Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for pilots and aircrew in the C-17, and KC-135. It is also home to Western Oklahoma State College and Southwest Technology Center.
The town that would later be named Altus was founded in 1886. The community was originally called Frazer and served as a trading post until it was relocated due to an 1891 flood. It was renamed Altus, a Latin word meaning “high place”.
The city has seen relatively steady growth since the beginning. The population doubled between the time of Oklahoma statehood and the 1910 census and even increased during the Great Depression. An irrigation project in the 1940s and World War II led to further growth in the town as the nearby air field was used to train military pilots.
From the time of Coronado’s exploration of the plains of Texas,…
