Heavener

Heavener is situated in Le Flore County, Oklahoma. There were scattered settlers in the area, including Joseph Heavener, who arrived in 1877 and, like other early settlers, farmed the area on permits from the Choctaw. In 1880, Zachary Taylor Ward and his Choctaw wife Tabitha Hickman Ward, relocated their store from Sullyville to what is now Heavener. It was known by different names, including Choctaw City, Long Prairie, Grand Prairie, Prairie of the Tall Grass, and Prairie View. In 1883, Zachary Ward died, and Tabitha married Heavener and they lived on the land which made up the original town. The land was fertile, a fact which caused many farmers to settle there. In 1885, a grist mill and cotton mill were built as more settlers moved in. In 1895, a vote was taken to decide upon a name for the town, with Heavener winning the popular vote. In 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad laid tracks through the town which contributed to the idea of a post office. The first post office in Heavener was established in May of 1896 in a boxcar At the same time, a second boxcar became the train station. The town incorporated in Indian Territory in 1898. Mining and timber industries both paid a large part in the growth of Heavener, with poultry farming taking the lead in the 1980s forward, with the starting of chicken farms, OK Foods establishment of a hatchery, a poultry processing, and a poultry feed mill. Just outside the city limits are the Heavener Runestone, a stone which has what seem to be letters from the runic alphabet and which are thought to have been etched by Norsemen from before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.

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