Arapaho is situated on U.S. Highway 183, five miles north of Interstate Highway 40. Named for the Arapaho tribe, the town came into existence on April 19, 1892, the day of the Cheyenne-Arapaho land opening. The word Arapaho means “blue sky men” or “blue cloud men.”

Arapaho developed as a trade center for the surrounding agricultural area in which wheat and alfalfa were grown and livestock were raised. The Blackwell, Enid and Southwestern Railroad (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient (later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) built in 1901–03 and 1906, respectively, connected the town with outside markets.

In 2000 Arapaho’s population declined to 748, and rose to 796 in 2010. At the turn of the twenty-first century Arapaho citizens supported the Arapaho Elementary and Arapaho High schools, in which 202 and 79 students were enrolled, respectively. Industries that provided the highest percentage of employment were educational, health and social services, and public administration. Oklahoma Gov. Leon C. Phillips hailed from Arapaho.

Sources:
www.okhistory.org