Douthat, Oklahoma

What is Douthat?

Douthat formed the western end of a bigger mining camp called Century, and early papers used both names. The land around it is scarred by old mine workings and waste, and Tar Creek runs close by. EPA reviews of the site have recorded acid mine water, seeping out of the flooded mines, flowing into Tar Creek at the Douthat Bridge.

History of Douthat

Mail service began on March 17, 1917, and the town's newspaper, The Independent, first appeared that July under the heading Douthat (Century) and boasted that the place was the hub of the Quapaw Miami lead and zinc district. A rail line had arrived the year before, when the Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri interurban built in from Commerce in 1916; by its third issue the paper was grumbling that the railroad still had not put in its promised road crossings. In 1919 the line passed to the Northeast Oklahoma Railroad; it was absorbed into the Frisco in 1967 and was later abandoned.

Douthat itself was eventually abandoned. The flooded workings and chat piles put it inside the Tar Creek cleanup area, listed in 1983, and during the cleanup the Douthat Bridge was replaced to shorten the haul routes of trucks carrying mine waste.

Visiting Douthat: tips

Douthat is a drive-by, not an attraction. It lies inside a Superfund cleanup area, so stay on public roads, keep off old mine land and chat, and take nothing away. Cardin is about 1.4 miles away and Picher about 1.7 miles, and the statue of Mickey Mantle in Commerce, about 3 miles off, makes an easy way back toward Route 66.