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 ...
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 located seven miles west of Lehigh.Shirk, George. ''Oklahoma Place Names'', 2nd ed. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, Oklahoma. 1987. p.186.
History
The community was founded by Eliphalet Nott and James Brooks Wright, who were the sons of
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 ...
leader
Allen Wright
Allen Wright () (born November 1826 – December 2, 1885) was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theological Seminary in New Yor ...
.Milligan, James C "Coal County," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed July 1, 2015. The community was originally named Parmicho, after the
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 ...
words "pala misha," which mean "lighted place in the distance." The name came from a lantern hanging at the railway station. The town's name was changed to Olney on July 12, 1902.