Wilburton is a city in and the county seat of Latimer County, Oklahoma, United States. The city had a population of 2,285 as of the 2020 Census. Robbers Cave State Park is north of Wilburton.
History
thumb|left|alt=Men and horses hitched to wagons are in a large trench. One wagon is full of coal.|Loading coal in the strip pits at a coal mine in Wilburton, 1898
The community now known as Wilburton was originally established as a group of settlers living around Riddle's Station, a stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach along the trail from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Fort Worth, Texas. Riddle's Station was built in 1858 and the Overland Stage operated from 1857 to 1861. According to the Oklahoma Encyclopedia of History and Culture, it was likely named for Will Burton, a contractor and surveyor who was involved in platting the townsite and building the Choctaw Coal and Railway Company line from Wister to McAlester. The post office was established at Wilburton, Indian Territory in 1891.
On 13 January 1926, ninety-one people were killed in a coal mine explosion in or near Wilburton.
A tornado struck Wilburton on May 5, 1960, and injured more than one hundred people and killed thirteen. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.33% is water.
Government
Wilburton has a statutory aldermanic form of government.
There were 853 households in Wilburton, of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.3% were married-couple households, 21.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Percent
|-
| White || 63.5%
|-
| Black or African American || 0.8%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 18.8%
|-
| Asian || 1.5%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0.2%
|-
| Some other race || 1.5%
|-
| Two or more races || 13.7%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 6.4%
|}
2000 census
As of the 2000 census
Sycamore Springs Golf Course is a 9-hole, semi-private golf course opened in 1970.
Robbers Cave State Park, which encompasses Lake Carlton, Lake Wayne Wallace, and Coon Creek Lake, is located approximately north-northwest of the town.
Lloyd Church Lake to the south-southeast of town.
Wilburton is in the region served by the KI BOIS Area Transit System ("KATS"), a low-cost public bus/van service established in 1983 to help communities, primarily in southeast Oklahoma, by providing access to Senior Citizen centers, groceries, medical services, and jobs.
Wilburton Municipal Airport (FAA ID: H05) is 4 miles west of town, and features a 3000’ x 60’ paved runway.
Commercial air transportation is available out of Fort Smith Regional Airport, about 70 miles northeast.
The town has freight rail service through the Arkansas-Oklahoma Railroad. That line in turn interchanges with the Kansas City Southern Railway at Howe, Oklahoma, and with the Union Pacific Railway at McAlester, Oklahoma.
References
External links
- Wilburton Public School District
- Latimer County Public Library
- Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory