Stapp, Oklahoma facts for kids

Stapp is a small place in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It's not a big city with its own government, but more like a neighborhood or a group of homes. You can find Stapp about eight miles south of a town called Heavener, right along US Route 59.

The Story of Stapp

How Stapp Began

The area that became Stapp first started as a community in 1897. Back then, it was called Thomasville. This was a time when the land was known as Indian Territory. A company called Long-Bell Lumber Company bought land there.

This lumber company started another company, called King-Ryder Lumber Company. This new company built a big mill in Thomasville to cut down trees and turn them into wood. They even built a special railway, the Kingston and Choctaw Valley Railroad. This train line helped move the wood from Thomasville to other train tracks near Howe, Oklahoma. King-Ryder Lumber Company left around 1901, but other companies kept working with timber in the area.

Stapp's Later Years

Later, the settlement was reborn and became known as Stapp. Another company, Buschow Lumber Company, had a sawmill there. Stapp even had its own post office starting in 1918, where people could send and receive mail.

At its busiest time, about 1,000 people lived in Stapp. However, the Buschow mill closed in 1932. This happened because the company cut down all the trees in the area and then moved on. The post office also closed in 1944. Today, there is nothing left of the old town of Stapp.