{"id":7071,"date":"2023-08-25T09:29:29","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T09:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=7071"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:40","slug":"mccurtain-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mccurtain-county\/","title":{"rendered":"McCurtain County, Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

McCurtain County is a county in Oklahoma, United States, in the state’s far southeastern
\ncorner, about 43 miles east of Hugo and 21 miles west of the Arkansas line. It had a population
\nof 30,814 at the 2020 census, an estimated 30,744 by 2025, and covers 1,902 square miles (4,930
\nkm2) centred near 34\u00b007\u2032N 94\u00b046\u2032W.<\/p>\n

Idabel is the county seat; its postal code is 74745. The county holds 2 cities, 7 incorporated
\ntowns and 2 census-designated places, plus dozens of smaller unincorporated communities, and it
\nruns on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 40089.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in McCurtain County<\/h2>\n

McCurtain County has 11 places with recognized city, town or CDP status — 2 cities, 7
\nincorporated towns and 2 census-designated places — plus more than 40 rural communities
\nthat survive only as post-office names, crossroads or church clusters, listed below with no
\npopulation or ZIP data because the Census Bureau does not track them individually. CDP stands
\nfor census designated place; Unincorp. covers those crossroads and rural communities.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Idabel<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n6,961<\/td>\n74745<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Broken Bow<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n4,228<\/td>\n74728<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Valliant<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n819<\/td>\n74764<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eagletown<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n404<\/td>\n74734<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hochatown<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n242<\/td>\n74728<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Millerton<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n215<\/td>\n74750<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Haworth<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n291<\/td>\n74740<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Garvin<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n177<\/td>\n74736<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wright City<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n616<\/td>\n74766<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Golden<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n71<\/td>\n74737<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Smithville<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n77<\/td>\n74957<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battiest<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n74722<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alikchi<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
America<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Beachton<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bethel<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bokhoma<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Buck Creek Landing<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Clebit<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Crossroads<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eastport<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Farmers Hill<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Felker<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Glover<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Goodlake<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Goodwater<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Harris<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hill Chapel<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Holly Creek<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iron Stob Corner<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kullituklo<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Moon<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mound Grove<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mount Herman<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mount Zion<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nani-chito<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North Pole<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oak Hill<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pickens<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plainview<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pleasant Hill<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plunketville<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Redland<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ringold<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rufe<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sherwood<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shinewell<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shults<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Slim<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Steel Junction<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stephens Gap<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tiner<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tom<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ultima Thule<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Watson<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Hochatown carries two histories at one name. The original riverside settlement sits under 200
\nfeet of Broken Bow Lake, flooded when the Corps of Engineers dammed the Mountain Fork River in
\n1968; the modern Hochatown, a mile west of the lake on US 259, only incorporated as a town in
\n2023 and today runs almost entirely on cabin-rental tourism.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

McCurtain County lies in Oklahoma’s far southeastern corner, where the Ouachita Mountains’
\nfoothills meet the Gulf Coastal Plain. Of its 1,902 square miles, 1,850 are land and 52 are
\nwater, about 2.8 percent. The Mountain Fork River, dammed to form Broken Bow Lake, and the Little
\nRiver, which crosses the county’s southern half, are its two major waterways; the Little River
\nholds Oklahoma’s lowest point, near the Arkansas and Texas lines. The county is the only place in
\nOklahoma inside the American alligator’s natural range, tied to the swampy Red Slough bottomland
\nin its far south.<\/p>\n

Le Flore County<\/a> and Choctaw County
\nborder McCurtain to the north, and Pushmataha
\nCounty<\/a> lies to the northwest. Polk County, Arkansas, borders it to the northeast; \nhref=”https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/sevier-county\/”>Sevier County, Arkansas<\/a>, and Little River
\nCounty, Arkansas, lie to the east. Bowie
\nCounty, Texas<\/a>, and Red River County,
\nTexas<\/a>, border the county to the south across the Red River.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

McCurtain County had a population of 30,814 at the 2020 census, an estimated 30,744 by 2025,
\nroughly flat over the decade. Idabel and Broken Bow are the two largest communities, together
\nholding well over a third of the county’s residents. Population density works out to about 16.6
\npeople per square mile of land, sparse even by rural-Oklahoma standards. American Indians, mostly
\nChoctaw, make up 14.7 percent of the county’s population, reflecting its history as the eastern
\ncore of the old Choctaw Nation.<\/p>\n

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Timber, forestry and cattle ranching drive the county economy; McCurtain County harvests around
\n60 million cubic feet of lumber a year, more than any other Oklahoma county, from pine
\nplantations planted on land once cleared for cotton. Limestone, sand and gravel extraction employ
\nworkers around Idabel and Broken Bow. Tourism has grown fastest around Broken Bow Lake and
\nBeavers Bend Resort Park, where cabin rentals concentrated in Hochatown draw visitors mostly from
\nTexas; the park itself recorded 2,283,559 visits in 2021, among the highest of any Oklahoma state
\npark. The Museum of the Red River in Idabel holds art and archaeology collections, including a
\nskeletal cast of Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, the state dinosaur.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

Oklahoma’s legislature formed McCurtain County at statehood in 1907, carved from the eastern
\nChoctaw Nation in Indian Territory. The county is named for the McCurtain family, three brothers
\n— Jackson, Edmund and Green — who each served as principal chief of the Choctaw
\nNation; Green McCurtain was the nation’s last chief before statehood dissolved its tribal
\ngovernment. Eagletown, in the county’s northeast, was the first permanent Choctaw settlement
\nafter the tribe’s forced removal from Mississippi beginning in 1832, and served as the seat of
\nthe Choctaw Nation’s Eagle County until statehood; missionary Cyrus Byington compiled his written
\nChoctaw dictionary there. Idabel, founded in 1902 as a railroad station and named for the two
\ndaughters of a railroad official, was hit by an EF4 tornado on 4 November 2022 that damaged much
\nof the city’s southeast side.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

No interstate crosses McCurtain County. US 70 runs east–west through Idabel and Valliant, US
\n259 runs north–south through Broken Bow and Hochatown, and State Highway 3 links Idabel to
\nHaworth and the Arkansas line.<\/p>\n