Lehigh

Overview

A coal town in Indian Territory

Lehigh sits on Coal Creek in southeastern Coal County, about 9 miles northwest of Atoka on US 75. Coal turned up here in 1877, in the Choctaw Nation. The camp was first called Boone and took the name of the Lehigh coal region of Pennsylvania when the post office opened in 1882. Its miners included Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks, and immigrants from Italy, England and Mexico.

By 1905 three railroads served the town, and it had a newspaper, two banks and an opera house. The census counted 1,898 people in 1920. Then the railroads switched from coal to oil, the mines closed, and in the early 1920s boll weevils destroyed the cotton. By 1930 fewer than 500 people were left.

Lehigh is still an incorporated town, with 272 people in 2020. The Merchants National Bank Building, built in 1907, is the only building left from the old downtown.

Timeline

Coal, cotton and decline

1. 1877Coal seams are found along Coal Creek.
2. Apr 4, 1882A post office opens at Lehigh, Indian Territory. The camp, first called Boone, is renamed for the coal region of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
3. By 1905Three railroads, a newspaper, two banks, an opera house and a business district around Main, Railway and Olive streets.
4. 1907The Merchants National Bank is built at Main and Railway streets.
5. Feb 1912Ten miners die in Shaft No. 5 of the Western Coal and Mining Company, the worst disaster in the town's history.
6. 1920The census counts 1,898 people, the peak.
7. Early 1920sRailroads switch to oil, the mines decline, and boll weevils wreck the cotton crop. Businesses close and people leave.
8. 1930497 people.
9. 1980284 people.
10. 2020272 people, the lowest census count yet.

What's here

One bank on Main Street

The Merchants National Bank was built in 1907 at the southwest corner of Main and Railway streets. It is the only survivor of the business district and was the subject of a 2006 National Register nomination. The Lehigh Historical Society used it in 1987; a 2025 article doubted the society was still active. A fire station and a small city hall stand along US 75.

• Merchants National Bank Building (1907)
• Fire station and city hall on US 75
• Homes on the old street grid

Historic maps

Lehigh on USGS maps, 1899–1985

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18991:125,00019001:125,00019571:24,00019631:250,00019851:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Lehigh is on US 75 north of Atoka, the closest town with services. From Dallas, US 75 runs north through Durant all the way.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Lehigh in photos

The Merchants National Bank Building, 2024The bank's narrow end, with the 1907 date stone, 2024The closed Owl Grocery, 2012

Visitor reports

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Nearby

Other sites near Lehigh

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Oklahoma index.

• Boggy Depot11.7 mi SW · Atoka
• Mount Olive12.1 mi E · Atoka
• Bromide16.0 mi W · Johnston
• Redden21.6 mi E · Atoka
• Zoraya27.4 mi E · Pushmataha
• Cobb28.7 mi S · Bryan
• Chahta Tamaha29.1 mi S · Bryan
• Stuart30.5 mi N · Hughes

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Wikipedia, "Lehigh, Oklahoma", retrieved October 2026: Boone, naming, post office date, railroads, decline, boll weevils, census figures, bank building and its 2006 National Register nomination, location, coordinates.
2. Red River Historian, "Lehigh," April 18, 2025: 1877 coal, miners' origins, 1905 town, 1907 bank, 1912 mine disaster, historical society, what remains.
3. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The Merchants National Bank Building, 2024: CyrusTheMediocre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The bank's narrow end, with the 1907 date stone, 2024: CyrusTheMediocre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The closed Owl Grocery, 2012: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Atoka 1899, 1:125,000; Atoka 1900, 1:125,000; Lehigh 1957, 1:24,000; Ardmore 1963, 1:250,000; Tishomingo 1985, 1:100,000.