LARGEST -- Stocker & Feeder Cattle Market, Oklahoma City, OK - Superlatives on Waymarking.com

Stockyards City was established in 1910 to facilitate the booming cattle industry in Oklahoma. The business district located just east of the stockyards at the intersection of S. Agnew and Exchange Avenue still thrives, with most businesses promoting products and services from the Old West days. The Stockyards City area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

West of this business district, a large brick arch spans Exchange Avenue and advertises entrance into this stockyards area. Across the arch of this entrance gate, the sign reads: "OKLAHOMA NATIONAL STOCKYARDS / The World's Largest Stocker and Feeder Cattle Market". The stockyard pens completely surround the brick auction barn, and access to the auction can only be reached by pedestrian catwalks which cross above the pens. An average of 10,000 head of cattle are auctioned off each week. Tractor-trailer rigs and pick-ups begin bringing the cattle in Friday night, and continue through Sunday evening. Stocker and feeder cattle are auctioned off on Mondays, with cows and bulls on Tuesdays.

The pens are numbered to assist in documenting the cattle and their owners. Each pen has water and food troughs and a brick flooring. After the auctions each week, employees rake the cattle droppings, leaving a thin layer. What is removed is sold as manure. The day we visited was a holiday, so no cattle were in the pens. It was a hot summer day and the area had no smell because all the manure was dry.

To get a feel for the size of this pen area, check out the aerial photo. This large brick barn is totally surrounded by pens and looks miniscule at the center of the stockyard area.

A little local story: As the large tractor-trailers leave the stockyards after dropping off their cattle, they drive east on Exchange, turn north on Agnew, to return to the interstate. As they make their sharp turns through town, the liquid "residue" from the cattle spills out of the trailers onto the streets of the business district. Known locally as "The Brown Stripe", this souvenir and the straw pieces that blow toward the curbs are cleaned up by employees of the Oklahoma Stockyards Company each day. A history of this fascinating area can be found on their website shown below.

Coordinates for the Entrance Gate are 35 27.173 97 33.367
To view the pens and access the auction barn, drive west through the gate, turn into the gravel parking area, climb the metal stairs leading to the catwalk across the pens.

Type of documentation of superlative status: Sign posted by Oklahoma National Stockyards Co. Location of coordinates: At the auction barn at center of pens Web Site: [Web Link]

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