El Reno is a historic community with many historic buildings, and is the county seat of Canadian County, and the only city in Oklahoma to have an old fashioned streetcar trolley in operation in the downtown area. At one time it possessed a terminal and repair facility for the CRI&P(Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, or "Rock Island") railroad, which employed a large number of people. The CRI&P went bankrupt in 1975.
El Reno is located at the interchange of I-40 and U.S. Route 81; Redlands Community College is located in El Reno as is Canadian Valley Technology Center, which opened in 1970 and is directly on famed Route 66 (about three miles (5 km) east of the city). El Reno is also home to a Federal Prison.
It was originally located about five miles (8 km) north of its present location, on the banks of the North Canadian river, bearing the name "Reno City," which caused its mail to get mixed up with mail for Reno, Nevada. After the second time the town was flooded, it was moved to its present location and changed its name to El Reno.
Historic Fort Reno was built in 1874, and first commanded by General Sheridan. He named it in honor of his friend, Gen. Jesse L. Reno, who was killed in the Civil War. Today, the grounds of the old fort are home to a research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The laboratory studies environmentally sustainable forage and livestock production, contributing to preservation of the great plains of North America.
During WWII, Fort Reno, about one mile (1.6 km) west of El Reno, was the site of a prisoner of war camp, and today contains a P.O.W. cemetery, with stones bearing the names of German and Italian prisoners who died there.
El Reno is a Main Street community. The Oklahoma Main Street Program is a downtown revitalization program and the El Reno Program won the Great American Main Street Award in 2006.
The town is noted for its annual Fried Onion Burger Day Festival, which is always the 1st Saturday in May. Burger Day is where you can witness the cooking of the world’s largest fried onion hamburger , weighing over 850 pounds. In 2008, El Reno celebrated the 20th Annual Fried Onion Burger Day.
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,212 people, 5,727 households, and 3,842 families residing in the city. The population density was 202.7 people per square mile (78.3/km²). There were 6,484 housing units at an average density of 81.1/sq mi (31.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.39% White, 9.83% Native American, 7.85% African American, 0.64% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.33% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.52% of the population.
There were 5,727 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 114.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,200, and the median income for a family was $39,106. Males had a median income of $29,521 versus $20,107 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,570. About 11.4% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.