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Oklahoma County
Major County, Oklahoma
Fairview and northwest Oklahoma Mennonite heritage - from Fairview's Mennonite community heritage (Major County has a significant Mennonite population descended from Russian Mennonite immigrants who settled the northwest Oklahoma wheat belt in the late 19th century, bringing distinctive cultural and agricultural traditions that shaped the county's farming practices and community character) to Major County's wind energy leadership (the county's open plains and reliable winds have made it one of Oklahoma's leading wind energy producers, with large wind farms visible across the rolling wheat fields representing the county's transition toward renewable energy alongside traditional wheat and cattle production).
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Office: Major County Emergency Management – 500 E. Broadway, Suite 11, Fairview, OK 73737 | (580) 227-3126 | Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30 AM–4:30 PM
Services: Also serves as the county’s 911 Director and Safety Coordinator.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-412 and SH-58 serve Fairview, the county seat, in northwestern Oklahoma
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county. Fairview Regional Airport, recently upgraded to B2 regional status with a 4,500-foot runway, accommodates small business jets and large twin-engine aircraft.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Fairview Code Enforcement – P.O. Box 386, Fairview, OK 73737, (580) 227-4416
Notes: Contact the Major County Courthouse for unincorporated county land permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Major County Veterans Service Officer – Major County Courthouse, Fairview, OK
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Fairview City Library – 115 S. 6th Ave, Fairview, OK 73737 | (580) 227-2190
Services: Genuinely founded April 9, 1909, evolving from an earlier community reading room where citizens gathered to read current magazines and books; interlibrary loan, public computers/internet, weekly children’s story time; governed by a five-member library board with an active Friends of the Library volunteer group.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Major County is genuinely home to Gloss Mountain State Park (also known as Glass Mountain State Park), a 640-acre park just north of Fairview featuring striking flat-topped mesas capped with Selenite gypsum that catches sunlight and gives the formations a shimmering, glasslike appearance – the source of both the park’s common nicknames; explorer Thomas James, passing through in 1871, is credited with describing the formations as “shining mountains,” a phrase that later evolved on maps into “Glass Mountains”; the area was historically a hunting ground for the Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche before becoming part of over six million acres allocated to the Cherokee Nation by the U.S. government in 1835, and later saw an influx of white settlers following the 1893 Cherokee Outlet land run – pioneers reportedly used cedar trees harvested from the mesas for roof trusses in their sod homes; the mesas’ rugged terrain also genuinely sheltered outlaws, including Dick Yeager, who used the formations as a hideout; for more than 60 years after Oklahoma statehood, Major County was reportedly the only county in the state without any state facility of its own, until the land for the park was purchased by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation in 1977, with the park formally opening in 1997; today, visitors can hike a trail from the base parking area to the top of Cathedral Mountain and across the mesa for panoramic views of the surrounding valley floor and neighboring Lone Peak Mountain; the 1928 Major County Courthouse, designed by the noted Oklahoma courthouse architecture firm Tonini & Bramblet, and the 1939 Fairview Community Center, a Public Works Administration project designed by architect John C. Hope, are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Notes: Gloss Mountain State Park’s genuine, shimmering gypsum-capped mesas – visible for miles and once a hideout for real Old West outlaws – make Major County one of the more visually striking landscapes found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Major County GIS – accessible via majorcountyok.org
Parcel Search: Major County Assessor – Fairview, OK
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Major County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Notes: The City of Fairview operates an Animal Control division under its Public Safety department; contact Fairview City Hall for current animal control procedures and hours. No separate dedicated county-run animal shelter was confirmed in available sources for Major County. For strays or animal concerns outside city limits, contact the Major County Sheriff’s Office. The nearest confirmed regional shelters are in larger Oklahoma cities such as Enid – contact directly to confirm whether they accept intake from Major County residents.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.ok.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Major County is genuinely home to Gloss Mountain State Park, whose gypsum-capped mesas gave the county its only state facility for over 60 years after statehood. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and courthouse pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Major County
Major County is northwest Oklahoma’s Mennonite heritage and wind energy wheat county – the Russian Mennonite farming traditions and the county’s exceptional wind resource have both shaped an agricultural economy that blends heritage wheat farming with one of Oklahoma’s most significant renewable energy footprints.
Fairview (the county seat, population ~2,600) is Major County’s governmental and commercial hub, a northwest Oklahoma wheat town serving the surrounding farming and wind energy communities along US 412.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Major County Assessor at 500 E. Broadway, Fairview, OK 73737, phone 580-227-4732. OK assessed at percentage of fair cash value.
Courts & Legal
Major County District Court at 500 E. Broadway, Fairview, OK 73737, phone 580-227-4690, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-4732
COURT CLERK
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-3735
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Major County District Court, Fairview (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Major County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Major County District Court 500 East Broadway Street, Fairview, OK 73737 (580) 227-4626 Major County is in northwestern Oklahoma, seated in Fairview.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Oklahoma has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, maintaining its own probate statutes under Title 58 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Probate cases are handled by the District Court in each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties.
Small Estate Affidavit (58 O.S. § 393) – available when the total value of probate personal property (not counting real estate) is $50,000 or less. At least 10 days must have passed since death. This process skips court entirely: the affidavit is signed, notarized, and presented directly to whoever holds the asset (a bank, for example), along with a certified death certificate. Real estate can never be transferred this way – even a small estate with real property still needs some form of court proceeding.
Summary Administration – available when the total probate estate does not exceed $200,000, or when the decedent has been dead more than 5 years, or lived outside Oklahoma. This is an abbreviated form of probate – still court-supervised, but faster and less expensive than full administration.
Regular (Full) Administration – the standard court-supervised process, required for larger or more complex estates, or wherever real property is involved and the shortcuts above don’t apply. A personal representative (executor or administrator) is formally appointed by the court.
Step 2: filing for administration
A Petition for Probate is filed in the District Court of the county where the decedent resided; if there’s a will, the original is filed with the petition.
The court sets a hearing date and requires notice be given to heirs and interested parties.
The court appoints a personal representative (executor if named in a will, administrator if intestate) and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Creditors are notified; claims against the estate must be presented within the statutory period.
The personal representative inventories assets, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes what remains according to the will or Oklahoma’s intestacy laws.
The estate is closed once a final accounting is filed and approved by the court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county – check with Major County directly for current fees.
Oklahoma has a statutory attorney fee schedule for probate, which provides more predictability than states without one.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-3737
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION BOARD
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-3743
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-3735
Department of Human Services
500 East Broadway St, Fairview, OK 73737
(580) 227-3739
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Major County Health Department – Fairview, OK
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