| Nescatunga, Oklahoma | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | Oklahoma |
| Pushpin Label: | Nescatunga |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Oklahoma |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Alfalfa |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 0.58 |
| Area Land Km2: | 0.58 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.23 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.23 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 90 |
| Population Density Km2: | 154.00 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 398.23 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 1145 |
| Coordinates: | 36.7542°N -98.1561°W |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 40-50975[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2629933 |
Nescatunga is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States adjacent to Great Salt Plains State Park. The population was 90 at the time of the 2020 Census,[3] up from the population of 70 reported in the 2010 census.[4]
Sans Orielle, an Osage Indian, along with other members of his tribe guided Indian Agent Major George C. Sibley and his party from Fort Osage, Missouri, to the Great Salt Plains area of present-day Alfalfa county in 1811. The Sibley party members are believed to have been the first white men to set sight on the salt plains, which Sibley called the Grand Saline. The Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, flowing through the plains, was known by the Osages as Nescatunga - meaning 'big salt water'.[5]
Nescatunga is adjacent to the Great Salt Plains Reservoir located on the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River. The creation of the dam and reservoir was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was completed in July, 1941 at a cost of $4.6 million.[5]
Nescatunga is located in eastern Alfalfa County. It is near the outlet of the Great Salt Plains Lake on the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River and is adjacent to Great Salt Plains State Park. Oklahoma State Highway 38 runs through the center of the community, leading south to Jet, the nearest incorporated town.[6]
Nescatunga's Census Bureau CDP has a total area of 0.6km2, all of it land.[7]