Coal County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,266. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Coalgate.

History

Coal County was formed at statehood from the former Shappaway County (later renamed Atoka County) of the Pushmataha District of the

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 ...

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, ...

. A strip of Coal County was taken from the Pontotoc District of the Chickasaw Nation. Initially, the Oklahoma legislature named Lehigh as the county seat, but a special election held in 1908 resulted in the citizens choosing Coalgate as the county seat. Lehigh tried to sue because more people voted than were registered, but no court would hear the case.Milligan, James C
"Coal County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 28, 2015. Mining became a mainstay of the county's economy during the 1870s. The first coal mine opened on Chief Allen Wright's land. The industry activity peaked between 1910 and 1916 but declined sharply after World War I. Many of the mines closed by 1921, due to the refusal of mining companies of the area to unionize. Some mines reopened during World War II, but these closed by 1958, because of the rising cost of refining sulfur out of the coal mined. Agriculture replaced mining as the main economic activity of the county. Even this business encountered severe difficulty in 1921–1923 when a boll weevil infestation wiped out the cotton crop. All five banks in the county failed as a result."Focus on Coal County."
Oklahoma Ad Valorem Forum. Oklahoma Tax Commission. March 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010.

Geography

Coal County is in southeastern Oklahoma, in a 10-county area designated for tourism purposes by the

Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation is a government agency, department of the government of Oklahoma within the Tourism and Branding Cabinet. The Department is responsible for regulating Oklahoma's tourism industry and for promotin ...

Choctaw Country Choctaw Country is the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation's official tourism designation for Southeast Oklahoma. The name was previously Kiamichi Country until changed in honor of the Choctaw Nation headquartered there. The current ...

. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Oklahoma by area. The eastern part of the county lies in the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

, while the western part has open prairie and lies in the Sandstone Hills physiographic region. The county is drained by the Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy creeks.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 75 * State Highway 3 * State Highway 31 * State Highway 43 * State Highway 48

Adjacent counties

* Hughes County (north) * Pittsburg County (northeast) * Atoka County (southeast) * Johnston County (southwest) * Pontotoc County (west)

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 5,295 people, 2,350 households, and 1,604 families residing in the county.United States Census Bureau
"DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 - 2010 Demographic Profile Data - Coal County, Oklahoma,"
''American Fact Finder'', Accessed July 5, 2015. There were 2,810 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 74.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 16.7% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 7.8% from two or more races. 2.6% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 2,350 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older.United States Census Bureau
"QT-P1 Age Groups and Sex: 2010 2010 Census Summary File 1 - Coal County, Oklahoma,"
''American Fact Finder'', Accessed July 5, 2015. The median age was 41.0 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males. According to the 2013

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, the median income for a household in the county was $34,867, and the median income for a family was $44,888.United States Census Bureau
"DP03 Selected Economic Characteristics: 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates - Coal County, Oklahoma,"
''American Fact Finder'', Accessed July 5, 2015. Male full-time, year round workers had a median income of $36,442 compared to $26,450 for female full-time, year round workers. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $19,752. About 15.8% of families and 21.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 35.9% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over. According to the 2000 census, 94.6% spoke English, 3.0% Spanish, 1.1% German and 1.1%

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

as their first language.

Politics

Coal County is in many respects typical of Oklahoma politics. Once a predominantly Democratic county, its elections have become dominated by the Republican Party in recent years, although even today, Republicans only have a plurality in party registration. In 1972,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

became the first Republican to ever carry the county in a presidential election, and was the only one to do so until the 2000 election. Coal County extremely narrowly supported two Democrats amidst national Republican landslides: James M. Cox by 24 votes in 1920 and

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

by 25 votes in 1984. The county swung 41 points Republican in the 2008 presidential election, the largest swing of any county in the country.

Communities

Cities

* Coalgate (county seat) * Centrahoma * Lehigh * Tupelo

Towns

Bromide A bromide ion is the negatively charged form (Br−) of the element bromine, a member of the halogens group on the periodic table. Most bromides are colorless. Bromides have many practical roles, being found in anticonvulsants, flame-retard ...

* Phillips

Census-designated place

* Clarita

Other unincorporated communities

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

* Cottonwood * Olney

NRHP sites

The following sites in Coal County are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: * Benjamin Franklin Smallwood House, Lehigh * Coalgate School Gymnasium-Auditorium, Coalgate * Keel Creek Bridge, Coalgate * Merchants National Bank Building, Lehigh * United States Post Office Coalgate, Coalgate

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Coal County

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{coord, 34.60, -96.30, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-OK_source:UScensus1990 1907 establishments in Oklahoma Populated places established in 1907