Douthat, Oklahoma

Coordinates: 36°57′33″N 94°50′10″W / 36.95917°N 94.83611°W / 36.95917; -94.83611
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Douthat, Oklahoma
Ghost town
Douthat, Oklahoma is located in Oklahoma
Douthat, Oklahoma
Douthat, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 36°57′33″N 94°50′10″W / 36.95917°N 94.83611°W / 36.95917; -94.83611
CountryUnited States
StateOklahoma
CountyOttawa
Elevation
814 ft (248 m)
GNIS feature ID1100283[1]

Douthat is a ghost town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. Douthat is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Picher. Douthat once had a post office, which opened on March 17, 1917. The community was named after Zahn A. Douthat, the owner of the townsite.[2] Douthat is now abandoned and part of the Tar Creek Superfund site.[3][4]

Douthat constituted the west part of a larger mining camp known as Century, Oklahoma.[5] A newspaper, The Independent, also called the Douthat Independent, referred to the town in its first issue published July 5, 1917 as “Douthat (Century),” and indicated the place was the “center of the Quapaw Miami mining district—the greatest lead and zinc mining country in the world excepting none.”.[6] The paper used both names going forward, stating in an advertisement in the second edition that the business in question was opposite the O.K.& M. train station in Douthat,[7] but editorializing in the third edition that in regard to needed but uninstalled railroad crossings, “Century is full of promises from the O. K. & M. You see they have not put in road crossings.”[8]

As referenced, the Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Inter-Urban Railway Company (O.K.& M.) had built into Douthat/Century from Commerce in 1916.[9] That line later became part of the Northeast Oklahoma Railroad in 1919.[9] The line was absorbed into the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (Frisco) in 1967, but was subsequently abandoned.[9]

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Douthat, Oklahoma
  2. ^ Shirk, George (1987). Oklahoma Place Names. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 44.
  3. ^ "Douthat, Oklahoma". Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  4. ^ "Tar Creek (Ottawa County), Oklahoma Site Overview". Kansas State University Technical Outreach Services for Native American Communities. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  5. ^ "Douthat, Oklahoma". Homestead.com. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "Salutatory, Front page". The Independent, Vol 1. Ed 1, Thursday, July 5, 1917. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Ad, Front page". The Independent, Vol 1. Ed 2, Thursday, July 12, 1917. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Article, Back page". The Independent, Vol 1. Ed 3, Thursday, July 19, 1917. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "Northeast Oklahoma Railroad Company". Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978, pp.55-56 (accessed on Oklahoma DigitalPrairie. Retrieved August 17, 2023.