Adair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,286. Its county seat is Stilwell. Adair County was named after the Adair family of the Cherokee tribe. One source says that the county was specifically named for Watt Adair, one of the first Cherokees to settle in the area.
The county was created in 1906 from the Goingsnake and Flint districts of the Cherokee Nation. There was a decade-long struggle over what town would become the county seat between Stilwell and Westville. When the county was formed, Westville was identified as the county seat, due partly to its location at the intersection of two major railroads: the Kansas City Southern Railway and the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway. The county seat was moved to Stilwell in 1910.
During the Great Depression and World War II, strawberries became a major crop in Adair County. In 1948, the first Stilwell Strawberry Festival was organized. The 2002 festival saw some 40,000 people in attendance.
The 1910 census counted 10,535 residents. By 1990, it was up to 18,421.