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History · McCurtain

A history of McCurtain,
then and now

Postcards, papers and photographs of McCurtain from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.

6old images & papers
0recent photos
From McCurtain’s archive · credits on each photo

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

In 1889, coal deposits discovered in the area that would become southern Haskell County attracted some European miners and American entrepreneurs. They established a community called Panther, which was renamed in 1902 to honor Choctaw Principal Chief Green McCurtain. Another mining town, Chant, was established nearby, and the two began to grow together. McCurtain and Chant prospered after the Fort Smith and Western Railroad connected McCurtain with Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1901. The railroad was built westward until it reached the Canadian River in 1902. The San Bois Coal Company built four hundred company houses for miners living in McCurtain and Chant. By 1907 statehood the combined population of the two communities was 1,760.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1902Map of Sans Bois Coal Company's Coal Leases nea…Map
1910s2 items · A View in Chant, OklaLOC
1940s3 items · Commissary in government housing proj…Commons
1950–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Help out

Finish McCurtain’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewA View in Chant, Okla, 1911: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people close to McCurtain

See all 31 →
Sim InessSim InessKeota · 8 miCal SmithCal SmithGans · 23 miDallas FrazierDallas FrazierSpiro · 20 miHenry BurrisHenry BurrisSpiro · 20 miWilliam Grady StiglerWilliam Grady StiglerStigler · 11 miJohn JarmanJohn JarmanSallisaw · 23 mi
By decade

McCurtain, decade by decade

1900s1 paper
Map of Sans Bois Coal Company's Coal Leases near McCurtain, Indian TerritoryMapMap of Sans Bois Coal Company's Coal Leases near McCurtain,…1902
1910s2 items
A View in Chant, OklaLOCA View in Chant, Okla1911Birds eye view of Chant, OklaLOCBirds eye view of Chant, Okla1911
1940s3 items
Commissary in government housing project for miners. This commissary has seen little use because the miners did not... …CommonsCommissary in government housing project for miners. This c…1946Front porch of home of government housing project now partially occupied by oil field workers. McCurtain, Le Flore Coun…CommonsFront porch of home of government housing project now parti…1946Houses in government housing project originally intended for coal miners. Oil field workers occupy a few of these... - …CommonsHouses in government housing project originally intended fo…1946
1950s–
1990s
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in McCurtain is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean McCurtain has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Summerfield School in Bokoshe, 5.4 miles away.

McCurtain and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = McCurtain. Tap a dot.
Summerfield SchoolDog Creek SchoolTrahern's StationHaskell County CourthouseEdwards-Hardaway Homestead and CemeteryEdwards Store

Closest to McCurtain

Summerfield SchoolBokoshe · Building5.4miDog Creek SchoolMcCurtain · Built 19367.5miTrahern's StationBokoshe · Site9.5miHaskell County CourthouseStigler · Neo-Classical Revival · Built 19319.6miEdwards-Hardaway Homestead and CemeteryFanshawe · Building10.5mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Summerfield School’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in McCurtain?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to McCurtain’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as A View in Chant, Okla (1911) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Keota📜 Bokoshe📜 Stigler📜 Fanshawe

From Wikimedia Commons (4) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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