Latimer County is a county in Oklahoma, United States, on the western edge of the Ouachita Mountains, in the southeastern part of the state. It had a population of 9,444 at the 2020 census and covers 722 square miles (1,870 km2) of land, centred near 34°52′N 95°14′W.
Wilburton is the county seat, and its postal code is 74578. The county has two incorporated municipalities — a city and a town — plus more than a dozen unincorporated communities, most of them former coal-camp settlements. Latimer County observes Central Time and has no civil townships.
Towns & Villages in Latimer County
Only Wilburton and Red Oak are incorporated. The rest of the places below are unincorporated communities, several of them the remains of coal-mining camps that emptied out after the industry collapsed in the 1920s.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilburton | City · seat | 2,285 | 74578 |
| Red Oak | Town | 537 | 74563 |
| Panola | Unincorp. | — | 74717 |
| Bengal | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bowers | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Cedar | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Center Point | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chilli | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Damon | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Degnan | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Denman | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Drumb | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gowen | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Higgins | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hughes | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lodi | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lutie | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Norris | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Patterson | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Veterans Colony | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Yanush | Unincorp. | — | — |
Fanshawe, sometimes listed under Latimer County, is mostly across the line in Le Flore County to the east and is not counted here.
ZIP Codes
- 74578 — Wilburton (also serves Bengal, Higgins, Hughes, Lutie, Norris and Veterans Colony)
- 74563 — Red Oak (also serves Bowers, Cedar, Center Point, Damon and Yanush)
- 74717 — Panola (also serves Chilli, Degnan, Denman, Drumb, Gowen and Lodi)
The smaller former coal camps use the ZIP code of whichever post-office town is closest; several have no standalone code and never did.
Geography
Latimer County sits where the Ouachita Mountains meet the Arkoma Basin coalfield, a landscape of forested ridges, sandstone hills and narrow valleys drained by the Fourche Maline and Brazil creeks toward the Kiamichi River in the south. Sardis Lake, formed on Jackfork Creek, laps the county’s western edge near Clayton. The county covers 722 square miles of land and 7.0 square miles of water.
Latimer County borders Haskell County to the north, Le Flore County to the east, Pushmataha County to the south, and Pittsburg County to the west.
Demographics
Latimer County had a population of 9,444 at the 2020 census, giving it a density of about 13 people per square mile. Wilburton, the county seat, is the largest community with 2,285 residents; Red Oak is the second-largest at 537. Median household income in the county runs well below the Oklahoma median of $62,138, reflecting the county’s rural, resource-dependent economy.
Economy & Local Life
Coal mining built Latimer County in the late 1800s and early 1900s and then collapsed sharply in the 1920s, leaving many of the county’s smaller communities as shadows of their boomtown selves. Today the economy rests on cattle ranching, timber, and oil and gas production. Wilburton is home to Eastern Oklahoma State College, a two-year public college founded in 1909 as the Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy, and to the Kiamichi Technology Center campus. Robbers Cave State Park, a few miles north of Wilburton, draws hikers, campers and rock climbers and hosts the annual Fall Festival.
History
Latimer County was created at Oklahoma statehood in 1907 and named for James L. Latimer, a Wilburton delegate to the 1906 constitutional convention. Coal mining drew thousands of immigrant workers, many from Italy and Eastern Europe, to camps such as Panola, Lutie and Higgins in the early 1900s; the industry’s collapse in the 1920s emptied most of those camps within a generation. In 1933, the federal government established the Veterans Colony northwest of Wilburton as a resettlement project for disabled World War I veterans, giving the community its name.
Getting There
U.S. Route 270 and State Highway 2 cross at Wilburton, and State Highway 63 runs east–west through the county’s north.
- McAlester — 25 miles west
- Poteau — 35 miles east
- Talihina — 20 miles southeast
- Antlers — 40 miles south
The nearest commercial airport is McAlester Regional Airport; the nearest with scheduled airline service is Tulsa International Airport, about 110 miles north.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Latimer County?
It is in southeastern Oklahoma, in the Ouachita Mountains foothills roughly 25 miles east of McAlester.
What is the population of Latimer County?
9,444 as of the 2020 census.
How big is Latimer County?
722 square miles (1,870 km2) of land, plus 7.0 square miles of water.
What is the county seat of Latimer County?
Wilburton is the county seat.
How many towns are in Latimer County?
Two incorporated places — Wilburton and Red Oak — plus about 19 unincorporated communities, many of them former coal camps.
What ZIP codes are in Latimer County?
The main ones are 74578 (Wilburton), 74563 (Red Oak) and 74717 (Panola).
What college is in Latimer County?
Eastern Oklahoma State College, a public two-year college in Wilburton founded in 1909.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Oklahoma.