Adel is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in northwestern Pushmataha County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. It is 12 miles west of Clayton. Using the

Public Land Survey System The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 17 ...

commonly in use in Oklahoma, its coordinates are T13-3S-R16E. Prior to Oklahoma's statehood, Adel was located in

Jack's Fork County {{More footnotes, date=July 2022 Jack's Fork County, also known as Jack Fork County, was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory. The county formed part of the nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three ...

, a part of the

Pushmataha District Pushmataha District was one of three provinces, or districts, comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the Third District, it encompassed the southwestern one-third of the nation. The Pushmataha District was named ...

of the Choctaw Nation. Adel,

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, was granted a

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

on June 3, 1907. It closed on November 15, 1954. Adel is isolated; the nearest communities are Daisy and Goss in

Atoka County Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,143. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief named ...

. Goss had a larger school, and Goss Schoolhouse still stands as a sturdy testament to its more prosperous times. No landmarks remain extant in Adel except for a small cemetery containing five graves. Only one grave, that of a county sheriff from the old

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

, bears a marker and it is dated 1880.''Pushmataha County Cemeteries'', p. 105. Adel's relative isolation was broken with the opening of the

Indian Nation Turnpike The Indian Nation Turnpike, also designated State Highway 375 (SH-375), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in southeastern Oklahoma, United States, running between Hugo, Oklahoma, Hugo and Henryetta, Oklahoma, Henryetta ...

in 1970, which features an

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

for Daisy. Upon completion of Sardis Lake, near Clayton, the state opened a paved highway,

Oklahoma State Highway 43 State Highway 43 (SH-43 or OK-43) is a state highway in Oklahoma, United States. It runs 65.3 miles west-to-east through Coal, Atoka, Pushmataha and Pittsburg counties. Route description SH-43 begins at US-75/ SH-3 in Coalgate, the seat o ...

, from the Daisy interchange on the Turnpike to Sardis Lake, passing over its dam to meet

Oklahoma State Highway 2 State Highway 2, abbreviated SH-2 or OK-2, is a designation for two distinct highways maintained by the United States, U.S. state of Oklahoma. Though they were once connected, the middle section of highway was Concurrency (road), concurrent wit ...

. At this writing, tourism at the lake has not been vigorously promoted and the lake does not generate much tourist traffic, either through Adel or elsewhere. That, however, may yet come to pass. More information on Adel may be found in the Pushmataha County Historical Society.

References

Unincorporated communities in Oklahoma Unincorporated communities in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-geo-stub