city, seat (1907) of Woods county, northwestern Oklahoma, U.S., on Salt Fork of the Arkansas River near the Kansas border. Established as a land office in 1893 at a Santa Fe Railway stop, it was named for Alva Adams, a railroad attorney and governor of Colorado (1887–89). It is a marketing and processing centre for a wheat and livestock area. Manufactures include tractors and furniture; petroleum and natural gas are local resources. It is the seat of Northwestern Oklahoma State University (1897). The Cherokee Strip Museum has Indian art and artifacts, and the Alva Municipal Airport Museum contains exhibits on the city's past, including information on Alva's World War II prisoner of war camp. Three state parks are nearby—Alabaster Caverns, which offers cave tours, hiking trails, and spelunking; Little Sahara; and Great Salt Plains, which offers a wide variety of activities. Pop. (1990) 5,495; (2000) 5,288.