BlockFrom the record
One of 32 National Register listings published here for Pittsburg County · listed in 2003 · category: Building.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
OKLA Theater
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 18 E. Choctaw, McAlester, 74501
- When was it listed? June 2003
- Category. building
- Census division. McAlester
- Architectural style. Art Deco architecture
- National Register reference number. 03000513 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
68 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 68 fires within 5 miles of OKLA Theater between 1996 and 2019, burning about 5,275 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 40 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 40 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 August 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Talihina Agency | BREWER FIRE |
| 5 August 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 acres | Talihina Agency | MITCHELL FIRE |
| 3 August 2006 | Natural | 60 acres | Talihina Agency | BURNT CHAIR |
| 3 August 2006 | Natural | 15 acres | Talihina Agency | BOAT RAMP |
| 17 August 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Talihina Agency | W KING |
| 7 July 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 20107 |
| 4 July 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 20078 |
| 1 July 2011 | Natural | 40 acres | Talihina Agency | EC 42011 |
Mines and quarries near this property
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of OKLA Theater: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this property
17 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names McAlester, the town this property stands in, in 17 storm reports between 1993 and 1995: 12 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | McAlester | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | McAlester | - | A severe thunderstorm in Pittsburg County produced 70 mph winds five miles north of McAlester and strong winds which downed power lines near McAlester. |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | ,,,,,,,,TSTM Wind (61) McAlester,22,1150CST,,,0,0,3,0,TSTM Wind Alderson,22,1150CST,,,0,0,4,0,TSTM Wind 5 SE McAlester,22,1150CST,,,0,0,3,0,TSTM Wind 5 W Savanna,22,1150CST,,,0,0,5,0,TSTM Wind |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | McAlester | - | A severe thunderstorm produced strong winds which downed large tree limbs and power lines in McAlester. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| March 1993 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
| March 1993 | Hail | McAlester | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | First Presbyterian Church | 0.4 miles | 1979 |
 | Busby Office Building | 0.8 miles | 1979 |
 | McAlester Scottish Rite Temple | 0.9 miles | 1980 |
 | Busby Theatre | 0.9 miles | 1979 |
| Warden's House | 0.9 miles | 2005 | |
 | Pittsburg County Courthouse | 0.9 miles | 1984 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 03000513 in Record Group 79. |
| Pittsburg County | All 32 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.