About Us

Welcome to the City of Beggs! We are defined less by boundaries on a map than by the sense of shared values our residents hold dear. We take pride in maintaining a wholesome lifestyle, rich in cultural history, along with a deep commitment to the preservation of our environment and a progressive approach to local business. 

Named after a railroad executive in 1900, our small rural community was founded officially on September 15, 1900 and named after Charles Hoffman Beggs. Mr. Beggs (a surveyor by profession) was the Vice-President and Assistant General Manager of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company of St. Louis, Missouri.

The history of the man himself includes his birth in 1864 in Fulton, Missouri as the son of an Irish immigrant who became a circuit minister. C.H. Beggs later married Laura Burgess Buckingham. The family moved around in Missouri and had the use of their own Pullman train car which allowed them to travel anywhere along the Santa Fe line. At the time the family came to present day Beggs, they were both living here in our city, but later separated when the rail lines were completed to Galveston, Texas about 1910. Mr. Beggs moved to Los Angeles, California with the railroad then on to Denver, Colorado to establish the Beggs Land and Cattle Company with his brother. C.H. Beggs died in 1942.

The current City of Beggs is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation headquartered in Okmulgee. This part of the City’s history goes back to 1832 when a delegation of Creek Indians signed the Second Treaty of Washington, where their ancestral lands in mostly Georgia, were ceded to the federal government and by force, the Creek Indians along with other eastern tribes, made their way into present-day Oklahoma’s Indian Territory (northeastern part of the State) across the infamous Trail of Tears. Today, the Creek Nation is a thriving tribal government with many tribal members living in Beggs.

On March 3, 1902, Beggs was established as a legal city government and was incorporated by court order. The town government consisted of four trustees, a city marshal and a city clerk.

The City saw its demographics and economy change over the decades with the rise and fall of cattle markets and oil exploration as well as the drastic changes brought on by the War. But soon the “tent city” of Beggs would flourish with new businesses, homes, schools and churches being built.

Today, the city government consists of an elected Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer and four elected Council Members (one from each Ward). The current population (according to the 2010 U.S. Census) is 1,400.

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