Pittsburg County Genealogical and Historical Society

History:

The Pittsburg County Genealogical and Historical Society, Inc., is located in the old Busby Office Building. The building was built in 1903 by the Great Western Coal and Coke Company. It was placed on the National Register of Historical Places on 9 December 1979. Elmer "Bud" Hale, Jr. donated the building to the City of McAlester on 18 March 1987 for the specific purpose of housing the Society.

The Society was organized in 1979 as an all-volunteer group to pursue two objectives: (1) to collect, categorize, and make available genealogical and historical data of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, as well as this part of the Choctaw Nation; (2) to assist each interested person in developing genealogical skills. These objectives have been successfully pursued through the efforts of a large number of people since its inception.

The Society's library has accumulated cemetery, funeral home, marriage, probate, and divorce records of Pittsburg County. The library has census indexes for the years 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930; school enumerations for the years 1920 and 1930; pre-statehood naturalizations; mine fatalities; the Dawes Commission Rolls for the Five Civilized Tribes and other Native American information.

The library has more than a thousand significant genealogical books; several hundred rolls of microfilm records; and genealogical and historical CD-ROMs. The library has microfilm readers with printers and two computers. The equipment and research materials have been obtained through the generosity of donors and by Society purchases.

The Society's building is adjacent to the Pittsburg County Court house.

The Society's latest project to date has been the publication, in 1997, of a 594 page history book, Pittsburg County Oklahoma, People and Places.

The Tobucksy News, is published three times a year (January, May and September) and mailed to all members of the Society.