The small rural town of Loyal, Oklahoma is located 45
miles south southwest of Enid in northwestern Kingfisher County. The
community was settled by German immigrants in the early
1890's. The first post office
was established on June 15, 1894.
The town's original
name town was "Kiel," which was the name of the town in
Germany from where many of the immigrants came. Shortly
after the outbreak of WWI, the residents of Kiel changed the
name to show support for the United States military. On October 1,
1918, they changed the name of the town to "Loyal."
Loyal is located 15 miles northwest of
Kingfisher, a town whose claim to fame is being the
"Buckle of the Wheat Belt." Wheat is the
primary crop grown by farmers who live in the area
surrounding the town.
In 1978, the Loyal school
system consolidated with the school system of nearby Omega.
A new high school school was built between Loyal and Omega.
Joining the names of the two communities, the school took on
the name of "Lomega." The high school is
located closer to Omega. The elementary school is in Loyal.
One of Loyal's claims to fame is their
high school girls basketball team. In the late 1970's, Karen Edgar was
hired to coach the Lomega girls basketball teams. She
inspired immediate success into the program. In 1979,
the Lomega Lady Raiders basketball team reached semi-finals
of the Oklahoma state Class B basketball tournament,
beginning a string of
18 consecutive appearances in the state tournament. Under
Edgar's leadership, the Lady Raiders appeared in the state
tournament nine times, winning four state championships. The
Lady Raiders have won 10 Class B state championships. Their
most recent title
was won in 2008. In 1988, Karen Edgar
married Bobby Knight, who was, at the time, head coach
of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team.
In addition to the Lomega elementary
school, Loyal has a post office, a filling station/farm
store, a city cafe, a fire department, a farm co-op, and two
churches. The two churches are the United Methodist Church
and the Loyal Evangelical Church. There is a large tree in
front of the Loyal Evangelical Church. On the tree is a
large red, white, and blue ribbon. There is a sign posted
above the the ribbon with a message which reads,
"Pray for our military personnel. All are giving some
...Some are giving all" In 1918, Kiel,
Oklahoma changed its name to Loyal, Oklahoma to show support
for the United States military. It could be said that
ninety-one years later, Loyal, Oklahoma is still "loyal."
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