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Contact Us:
Cordell Main Street
Program Manager
P.O. Box 66
Cordell, OK 73632 |
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Cordell, the seat of Washita County, is known for its picturesque
town square and beautiful turn of the century architecture. An
historic downtown, nestled in the heart of Cordell and its citizens,
is a place where history was sown and reaped from the Redland
prairie of western Oklahoma. Just 15 miles south of I-40 and on
Scenic Highway 152, the community is an Oklahoma Certified City and
a National Trust Historic Main Street town. Cordell's historic
district hosts four listings on the National Register of Historic
Places; The New Cordell Courthouse Square Historic District, the
Washita County Courthouse, The Carnegie Library, and the Old First
National Bank.
Our Main Street History
As a result of the economic bust of the mid 1980’s, Cordell’s need
for revitalization most assuredly was accelerated by the closing of
three community owned national banks and a savings and loan in 1986
and 1987. These events tremendously impacted the vitality of our
small town.
In 1992, the comprehensive Certified Cities program was initiated in
Cordell to inventory our city’s assets and assess our community’s
strengths and weaknesses. This team of city leaders assigned to
Certified Cities recommended that the Main Street program be
scrutinized; knowing the state recently introduced small town
emphasis for the first time in Oklahoma. In the fall of 1992,
Cordell began its application process and was officially introduced
into the program as one of the first five small town Main Street
communities in the spring of 1993.
The volunteer base for Cordell Main Street, Inc. ballooned to over
150 in less than one year and was as dramatically positive as the
dual oil-ag bust was negative in the 1980’s.
 In 1995, the City of Cordell aggressively entered the picture to
assist with Main Street’s budgetary needs as a public sector partner
in the town’s redevelopment.
By mid 1997, numerous partnerships had surfaced that revitalized the
town with over $4 million in downtown public and private sector
capital improvements. This number indicates over $1300 of new
investment per every man, woman and child in Cordell.
In June 2005, Cordell was recognized for surpassing the $5 million
mark in private reinvestment in our downtown buildings and another
$3 million in public investment. Since the program began, there have
been 23 façade renovations and 33 building rehabs in the formerly
dormant district.
The city has demonstrated an exemplary reversal since the economic
calamity of the 1980’s. Excepting the founding and development of
the city from 1897 to 1920, the 1993 through 2005 period have seen
both the largest public and private sector projects in the
downtown’s history. The formation of Main Street parallels this
remarkable spike in economic activity. The total complexion in the
downtown district both in attitude and in physical appearance is
clearly evident and has been illuminated in newspapers, tabloids,
the internet, both state and national publications, and national
television exposure on CBS “Eye on America”.
Awards and Recognitions
 Over the past decade Cordell has been the recipient of numerous
revitalization awards and recognitions. These achievements include:
The Oklahoma Arts Council-George Nigh Mayoral Award to
Cordell’s mayor for work achieved in city-wide preservation activity
(1995), The Consulting Engineers of Oklahoma Award for work
on the relocation and rehabilitation of the Cordell Police Complex
(1996), Main Street “Best Municipal Partner” (1996), The
E. L. Gaylord-Oklahoma Territory Award presented by the Oklahoma
Heritage Association to the City of Cordell for preservation
sensitive revitalization in the downtown historic district, and at
the 1997 Preservation Conference Cordell was recognized by the SHPO
for numerous projects completed with CLG funding through the
Oklahoma Historical Society. Since 1994, the Cordell program has
been awarded 12 first place citations at the state banquet held each
spring.
In 1999 Cordell was awarded the highest recognition a Main Street
Community can receive: The Great American Main Street Award.
This award is granted through the National Trust for Historic
Preservation. Only five communities across the nation will receive
this award annually. Cordell was the first community in Oklahoma to
become a coveted Great American Main Street.
 Come
for a visit and relax in Lee Park, or take advantage of one of the
walking trails or tennis courts. Attend one of Cordell’s festivals;
held annually in October and December, to see the downtown all
dressed up for company. Check out the rodeo in May, when the local
round-up club invites the cowboys into town. Catch a first-run movie
at the restored Washita Theatre, touch history in the Washita
Museum, dine on your choice of barbeque, pizza, steak, or pastries,
play a round of golf at the Crooked Creek Golf Course,
and get a good nights sleep in an award-winning, upper floor loft.
Come see for yourself why Cordell has earned the distinction as
“America’s Hometown”.
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