 |
 |
|
|
Home |
Archives |
Cemeteries |
History |
Obits
| Queries
| Surnames |Resources |
||
"Links to web sites that are not part of the US Gen Web Project are provided for your convenience and do not imply any endorsement of the web sites or their contents by The USGenWeb Project."
Welcome to Latimer County!
Danny Baldwin Coordinator
|
If you would like to adopt a county in Oklahoma, visit
okgenweb.net
<<+++>>
<<+++>> |
Located in southeastern Oklahoma, Latimer County
encompasses 729.12 square miles of total land and water area. Bordering
counties are Le Flore on the east, Haskell on the north, Pittsburg on the
west, and Pushmataha on the south. With a 1907 population of 9,340, the
county was created at Oklahoma statehood and named for James L. Latimer, the
Wilburton-area representative in the 1906 Constitutional Convention.
Wilburton serves as county seat, and Red Oak is the only other incorporated
town. Latimer County was originally from parts of Gaines, Sugarloaf, Wade, and Sand Bois Counties, Indian Territory, Choctaw Nation. Latimer County was created at statehood in 1907. The county's early economy was based on coal mining.
The principal coal-producing area lay in the northern mountains, in the
Choctaw Segregated Coal Lands. By 1895 the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf
Railway operated mines near Gowen, Lutie, and Wilburton. By 1905 mining
operations included McAlester Coal Mining Company (from 1897), McAlester
Coal and Mineral Company (from 1897), Eastern Coal and Mining Company (from
1899), Great Western Coal and Coke Company (from 1899), and Missouri, Kansas
and Texas Coal Company (from 1904), all near Wilburton; Kali-Inla Coal
Company (from 1904) near Gowen; Bache and Denman Coal Company (from 1905)
near Red Oak; and Le Bosquit Coal and Mining Company (from 1902) and Turkey
Creek Coal Company (from 1901), both near Hughes. By 1912 the county had
twenty-seven mines working three thousand miners producing five thousand
tons per day. In addition, various individuals operated small strip mines.
Most of the miners were native-born whites, but an assortment of Europeans,
primarily from the British Isles and Italy, Mexicans, and African-Americans
also contributed their labor to mining industry.
<<+++>>
<<+++>> |
This page was last updated on
08/07/23
 |
|
|
|
|
God Bless America
Latimer County Coordinator -
Hosted by OKGenWeb
© 1996-Present ~ All Rights Reserved
| USGenWeb NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Files may be printed or copied for Personal use only. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. |
