Floris, Oklahoma

Floris
Unincorporated community
The grain elevator at Floris during the 2010 wheat harvest
Floris Location within the state of Oklahoma
Coordinates: 36°52′11″N 100°42′41″W / 36.86972°N 100.71139°WCoordinates: 36°52′11″N 100°42′41″W / 36.86972°N 100.71139°W
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Beaver
Elevation	2,631 ft (802 m)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
GNIS feature ID	1100418

Floris is an unincorporated community in northwest Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States.^[1]

History

The community was named after Floris Derthwick, who was the daughter of the townsite owner, Byron S. Derthwick.^[2]

Once a thriving small community, Floris is now a very small but still productive community of under 15 inhabitants. Founded in 1903 about halfway between Beaver City, Oklahoma, and Liberal, Kansas; it became a center for settlers coming into the region. The Floris post office operated from August 7, 1903 to September 30, 1925.^[2] The town sported a winning local baseball team in its early years that rivaled the likes of bigger towns around it, and, after combining its school district with other rural districts - one of the finer area schools "Greenough" which didn't close its doors until 1958. Unfortunately for Floris, commerce moved further West with the paving of U.S. Highway 83 between Liberal, Kansas, and Perryton, Texas; seemingly benefiting the community of Turpin, Oklahoma, at Floris's expense. The town still becomes a busy place during harvest as grain pours into its elevator, whose steel bins are on the national list of historic places; and the one local area church, the "Bethel Church of God," still keeps a vestige reminder of the convictions of the people who settled there.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Floris, Oklahoma
2. Shirk, George H. Oklahoma Place Names, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965, p.80.