Sentinel is a town in Washita County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 901 in the 2010 census, an deposit of 4.9 percent from the figure of 859 residents in 2000. Towns near Sentinel are Rocky, Cordell, Canute, and Burnsflat.

Located in southwestern Washita County, Sentinel lies at the intersection of State Highways 44 and 55. The town is primarily an agriculture-based community. The 1892 Cheyenne and Arapaho Opening brought non-Indians into the region. In 1898, R. B. Gore, a speculator of Old Greer County, established a little general merchandise amassing in the Place and applied for a herald office. On March 6, 1899, the Post Office Department endorsed the application and designated the locale as Sentinel, Oklahoma Territory. The post originated from Cloud Chief’s Herald-Sentinel newspaper. This buildup was approximately one mile east of the present town.

In 1901, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, later bought by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, began purchasing rights-of-way and designating additional townsites for a proposed railroad. The newly formed Orient Townsite Company chose the site of present Sentinel and time-honored a donation of eighty acres from L. N. Whitmer. They named the further town “Barton” and filed a plat upon September 23, 1901. The further residents asked Gore to relocate his heap and make known office to the supplementary location. This caused confusion, as the town and broadcast office had alternative names. In 1904, Will Hornbeck acknowledged the Sentinel News-Boy. Determined to exact the publicize problem, he started a petition to incorporate the town as Sentinel. In 1906, the voters certified this be active in an election. In August 1907, the town officially became Sentinel. At the 1907 statehood, it had 351 residents.

By 1908, the Orient had built their tracks through the village. In 1910 the population stood at 857, climbing to 1,269 by 1930. In 1911 residents supported two banks, a newspaper, electricity and telephone service, four grocers, two hotels, four general stores, among many supplementary businesses and professionals. In 1935, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp was located just west of Sentinel. The population held above one thousand until 1970 as soon as it registered 984. In 1967, the Rocky studious consolidated into Sentinel School District. In 1961, the chamber of commerce began hosting an annual, large July Fourth celebration. In 2000, the population stood at 859.