McAlester, Oklahoma

McAlester is a city in and the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, McAlester had a population of 18,171. The town gets its name from James Jackson McAlester, an early settler and businessman who later became lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. Known as "J. J.", McAlester married Rebecca Burney, the daughter of a full-blood Chickasaw family, which made him a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

McAlester is the home of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, the former site of an "inside the walls" prison rodeo that ESPN's SportsCenter once broadcast. The prison's nickname, Big Mac, was derived from its location in the town.

McAlester is home to many of the employees of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. This facility makes the majority of the bombs used by the United States military. In 1998 McAlester became the home of the Defense Ammunition Center (DAC), which moved from Savanna, Illinois, to McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.

History

thumb|right|upright|When this street in McAlester was paved in 1916, the city saved this pine tree and built a fence around it

The crossing of the east–west California Road with the north–south Texas Road formed a natural point of settlement. At the time of its founding, the site was located in Tobucksy County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation. Alyssia Young, who emigrated from Mississippi to the Indian Territory, first established a settlement at the intersection of the two roads in 1838. The town was named Perryville after James Perry, member of a Choctaw family, who established a trading post. At one time Perryville was the capital of the Choctaw Nation and County Seat of Tobucksy County. During the American Civil War, the Choctaw allied with the Confederate States of America (CSA) as the war reached Indian Territory.

A depot providing supplies to Confederate Forces in Indian Territory was set up at Perryville. On August 26, 1863, a force of 4,500 Union soldiers crossed the Canadian River and destroyed the Confederate munitions depot at Perryville. This became known as the Battle of Perryville, Indian Territory. Union Major General James G. Blunt, finding the Confederate supplies and realizing that Perryville was a major supply depot for Confederate forces, ordered the town burned. The town was rebuilt but never reached its prewar glory or population.

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, Captain J. J. McAlester obtained a job with the trading company of Reynolds and Hannaford. McAlester convinced the firm to locate a general store at Tupelo in the Choctaw Nation. He had learned of coal deposits in Indian Territory during the war while serving as a captain with the 22nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Confederate). At Fort Smith, Arkansas, before going to work with Reynolds and Hannaford, McAlester had received maps of the coal deposits from engineer Oliver Weldon, who served with McAlester during the war.

Weldon had worked for the U.S. surveying Indian Territory before the war and knew of the coal deposits. Hearing of the railroad plans to extend through Indian Territory and knowing that rich deposits of coal were in an area north of the town of Perryville, McAlester convinced Reynolds and Hannaford that Bucklucksy would be a more suitable and profitable site for the trading post. He constructed a trading post/general store there in late 1869. The Bucklucksy general store was an immediate success, but McAlester recognized an even greater opportunity in the abundance of coal deposits in the area, so he began obtaining rights to the deposits from the Choctaws, anticipating the impending construction of a rail line through Indian Territory. Miners of Italian origin arrived in McAlester in 1874. McAlester was also on the route of the Jefferson Highway established in 1915, with that road running more than 2,300 miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba to New Orleans, Louisiana.

McAlester was the site of the 2004 trial of Terry Nichols on Oklahoma state charges related to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. On December 25, 2000, an ice storm hit the area, leaving residents without electrical service and water for more than two weeks; in January 2007, another devastating ice storm crippled the city, leaving residents without power and water for more than a week. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land. It has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and average monthly temperatures range from in January to in July. The hardiness zone is 7b.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, McAlester had a population of 18,171. The median age was 37.3 years, with 23.0% of residents under the age of 18 and 16.6% aged 65 or older.

For every 100 females there were 106.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 108.1 males age 18 and over.

There were 6,897 households in McAlester, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.6% were married-couple households, 19.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Percent

| White || 62.5%

| Black or African American || 5.8%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 13.7%

| Asian || 0.9%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0.1%

| Some other race || 3.6%

| Two or more races || 13.5%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 7.8%

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 17,783 people, 6,584 households, and 4,187 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 7,374 housing units at an average density of .

thumb|[[Oklahoma State Penitentiary, established in 1911, is a source of employment and local revenue in McAlester]]The Oklahoma State Penitentiary is a major source of employment and revenue in McAlester.

During World War II, the U.S. Government built the Naval Ammunition Plant a few miles south of McAlester. In 1977, the facility became the U.S. Army Ammunition Plant. It is still the main site of ammunition production and storage for the armed forces in the United States. McAlester was also previously home to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in the Carl Albert Federal Building.

Organizations

Another non-profit called McAlester Main Street, one of the various national Main Street Programs, is a public-private partnership with the City of McAlester, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which works to preserve and revitalize Old Town and Downtown McAlester.

Education

thumb|McAlester Public Library

McAlester Public Schools operates public schools. The McAlester Public Library was built in 1970. As of 2010 the city has plans to build a new library. The Friends of the McAlester Public Library is financing the new branch.

McAlester includes Kiamichi Technology Center, which has over 300 students per school year. There is also an extension of Eastern Oklahoma State College that partners with Southeastern Oklahoma State University and East Central University. The Wanda Bass Higher Education Center, a branch of Eastern Oklahoma State College, is also in McAlester.

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Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad
Indian Nation Turnpike
Interstate 40
Greyhound Lines
McAlester Regional Airport
State Highway 1
State Highway 9

State Highway 31
State Highway 71
U.S. Highway 69 Business
U.S. Highway 69
U.S. Highway 75
U.S. Highway 270
U.S. Highway 271

McAlester Regional Airport (KMLC; FAA ID: MLC), approximately three miles southwest of town, features a paved 5602’ x 100’ runway. The airport had commercial air service through Central Airlines in the 1960s.

Points of interest

Garrard Ardeneum
McAlester Public Schools
McAlester News-Capital
Oklahoma State Penitentiary

Notable people

Carl Albert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Melva Blancett, actress
John Berryman, poet
Mary Blair, artist, Disney animator
Ridge Bond, actor/singer
Riley Brett, race car driver
Quentin Brooks, Olympian athlete
Edwin H. Burba, Jr., U.S. Army four-star general
Lynn Cartwright, actress
Wilburn Cartwright, U.S. representative from Oklahoma
W.H.H. Clayton, U.S. District Court judge
Bennie L. Davis, U.S. Air Force four-star general
Bob Dickson, professional golfer
Lance Fenton, racing driver
Clonie Gowen, professional poker player
Micha Hancock, indoor volleyball player
Jerry Jewell, voice actor affiliated with Funimation
Levi Parham, singer-songwriter
Steve King, NFL football player
Steven T. Kuykendall, U.S. representative from California
Pepper Martin, Major League Baseball player
Dave Matthews, saxophonist
J. J. McAlester, pioneer for whom McAlester was named
Pake McEntire, singer
Reba McEntire, singer/actress
Susie McEntire-Eaton, singer
Beverlee McKinsey, actress
George Nigh (b. 1927), politician, Governor of Oklahoma (1979 - 1987), was born in McAlester
William Nigh, politician
Rutus Sarlls, first lawyer in South McAlester, political candidate, and successful defendant in a United States Supreme Court case involving the sale of malt beverages to Native Americans.
Derek Sitter, founder/former owner, Volcanic Theatre Pub (Bend, Oregon) and actor/filmmaker
Gene Stipe, longest-serving member of the Oklahoma Senate, represented McAlester (1957–2003)
Steven W. Taylor (b. 1949), attended high school in McAlester, mayor of McAlester (1982 - 1984), Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice (2004 - 2016), Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice (2011 - 2013)
Edward Lloyd Thomas, Confederate general
Wade Watts, Baptist minister; civil rights activist
Walter L. Weaver, U.S. representative from Ohio
Michael Wilson, screenwriter

NRHP sites

The following sites in McAlester are listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma: