1854-1913 Colonel William Busby - McAlester, OK
N 34° 55.982 W 095° 46.054
15S E 247215 N 3869115
A sign stands in front of William Busby's old office at 113 E Carl Albert Pkwy in McAlester, providing an overview of the contributions that he made to the development and growth of the city.
Waymark Code: WM1AET8
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2024
Views: 0
There are no emblems or other identifying marks/text on the sign, but a guess would be that it was placed by the Pittsburg County Genealogical and Historical Society, who now occupy the building, and its first appearance on Google Maps Street View is April, 2022. It provides a photo of Mr. Busby and it reads:
There was a decade of unusual growth and development in McAlester between the years of 1903-1913 that has been attributed to the vision, drive and dynamic leadership of Colonel William Busby.
The Busby Hotel and the Busby Theatre were two institutions that placed his name before the public, but his activities extended to other interests including ownership of many area coal mines, the Union Iron Works and Machine Shop, the Choctaw Railway & Lighting Company, the Choctaw Electric Company and the South McAlester-Eufaula Telephone Company.
Earning the title of Coal King, Busby became the largest coal mine operator in Indian Territory, employing over 3,500 miners.
Already a 33rd degree Mason when he moved to the area, Busby was installed as Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Scottish Rite Bodies in Oklahoma on October 27, 1909, a position he kept until his sudden death in 1913.
Colonel Busby raised the cultural and social consciousness considerably in this former little mining town, and for that, McAlester will be forever grateful.
"Colonel" was honorific, bestowed upon him out of respect. You're standing in front of his old office, and the adjacent Pittsburg County Courthouse was originally the Busby Hotel -- both are now listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. He also was behind the construction of the original Scottish Rite Temple in 1907 -- replaced in 1929 by the grand building you see now -- and initiated the Carnegie Library that he did not live to see completed. His Findagrave page (see below) has two obituaries that note some of his achievements, along with a scan of a third from the Parsons Sun that goes a little more into depth regarding his accomplishments outside of McAlester. Unfortunately, most of the really good new articles, such as this one from the McAlester News-Capital are behind paywalls.