McAlester is located in eastern Oklahoma in
Pittsburg County. It is located between U.S. Highway 69 and the Indian Nation Turnpike southwest of the southern arm of
Eufaula Lake. Smaller
Lake McAlester lies just northwest of town.
The town's stategic location at the crossroads of the old California Trail and the Texas Road allowed the town to grow rapidly and prosper. Today, it hosts several annual events, including the Indian Festival of the Buffalo and the Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo on Labor Day weekend.
A museum buffs's paradise, the city proudly displays the Coal Miners Memorial Plaza, the J.G. Puterbaugh House (he founded the area's coal industry), the McAlester Scottish Rite Temple, the Oklahoma Trolley Museum, the Tannehill Museum (of early weapons), the Garrard Ardeneum, the International Order Rainbow Girls Temple, the McAlester Building Foundation, the Pittsburg County Historical Museum and the Oklahoma Prisons Historical Museum.
