Pittsburg

Formed July 16, 1907 (26^th county)

Pittsburg County (43,774), McAlester (18,170)                

The twin-winged Classical Revival structure was built in 1908 and converted into a courthouse in 1927.  It sits at the North 1^st Street at East Carl Albert Parkway (United States Highway 270).  The original building’s architects; Layton, Hicks & Forsyth; designed this red brick and stone structure.  The building was renovated in 2009.  There are no other permanent courthouses to serve the county since its organization on July 16, 1907 and McAlester is the only county seat.  The county was formed from Tobucksy County of the Choctaw Nation as the 26^th county.  Pittsburg County is named for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  McAlester was named for Lieutenant Governor John J. McAlester.  Pittsburg County is the birthplace of 1 Oklahoma Governor, George P. Nigh. 

Pittsburg County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five District Court Judges serve Pittsburg and McIntosh counties and a court clerk serves Pittsburg County (judicial.)  The county is in southeast Oklahoma.  The county center is 4.4 miles East-Northeast of McAlester nearer Krebs.  The county is surrounded clockwise by McIntosh, Haskell, Latimer, Pushmataha, Atoka, Coal, and Hughes counties. 

The area of the county is 1306 square miles.  It is 8 out of 77 in the state.  It ranks 21 out of 77 in population in the state.  It has a density of 33.5 persons per square mile making it 32 out of 77 in the state.  Pittsburg County has 59.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 69 cuts across the county diagonally from McIntosh County, north, to Atoka County, south.  United States Highway 270 crosses east to west, Latimer County to Hughes County.  The county is basically rectangular on three sides with an extension to the south and one to the east.  The northern border is the Canadian River, which lengthens the county from west to east.  McAlester is near the county center.  McAlester is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 41.5% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced MAC-AL-I-STUR.  This county is in the McAlester Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Savanna