Stroud is located in central Oklahoma midway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City in Lincoln County just off Interstate 44 on historic Route 66.
With the town being just outside of "Indian Territory", a whiskey industry sprung up to give the town its start. Oil came to be the principal industry, however. Relics of the era can still be found around town.
Stroud is steeped in a rich First Nation heritage and is the home of the Fox and Sac tribes. Jim Thorpe, a Sac/Fox from Yale, OK, was voted as the best athlete of the 20th century. Thorpe starred in the 1912 Olympic Games winning both the pentathlon and decathlon and later went on to play professional football and major league baseball.
In addition, the town houses the Sac & Fox National Public Library.