Ripley is a town in southeastern Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 423 at the 2010 census, a grow less of 9.2 percent from the figure of 444 in 2000. The town was named after Edward Ripley, the 14th president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (often called helpfully the Santa Fe) developed Ripley and auctioned the first lots on January 13, 1900. Three months later, the Ripley Times, reported that the community’s population had already reached 1,000 persons. The first wagon bridge across the Cimarron River was completed July 31, 1900, which was the defense for a big party that lasted until the wee hours of the next morning.

Agriculture became the main source of income moreover the railroad. A large farm named Morehead Plantation hired many African-American laborers to develop cotton. The cotton issue declined hastily after World War I, but oil discoveries in the county offset the cotton halt for a while. However, oil markets declined in the late 1920s and the arrival of the Great Depression caused the town economy to decline. Ripley’s population declined from a culmination of 487 in 1930 to 292 in 1950 and 263 in 1960. The population rebounded to 451 in 1980 and 376 in 1990. It peaked once again in 2009 at 510; by 2016, it dropped to 403 people.

Ripley is located at 36°01′03″N 96°54′14″W / 36.017531°N 96.903876°W / 36.017531; -96.903876. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total Place of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²), all land. Ripley is upon the Cimarron River; it is southeast of Stillwater (8 miles (13 km) east on State Highway 51 and 7 miles (11 km) south upon State Highway 108), and west-northwest of Cushing. Cushing Lake, which offers a boat ramp, dock, and picnic area, is just to the southeast.