Editing Savanna, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Begun as a rural settlement in [[Tobucksy County, Choctaw Nation|Tobucksy County]], [[Choctaw Nation]] during the 1860s, the community's economy was based on agriculture and cattle ranching. Coal mining became the most important economic activity during the 1870s.

A post office was established at Savanna, Indian Territory on May 5, 1876. The town owed its existence to the [[Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad]], for which it was a station stop, and the new post office was named for the private railroad car used by Robert Stevens, general manager of the railroad.<ref>Shirk, George H.  ''Oklahoma Place Names'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), p. 187.</ref>

As coal mining developed, the community became one of the largest in [[Indian Territory]]. The mining companies built rows of 2- and 3- bedroom houses for the families of the miners. In 1887, accidental explosions in Mines #1 and #2 killed 6 miners and 12 rescue personnel. The Savanna Coal Mining and Trading Company closed its mines and moved the houses it owned to [[Lehigh, Oklahoma]]. Some growth continued, and Savanna boasted 450 residents in 1911. The ''Savanna News'' began publishing in 1915, but went out of business before the end of the decade.

However, the demand for coal fell, as the country began shifting to oil and gas as preferred fuels. Coal mining never regained its former importance to Pittsburg County after WWI. Savanna's boom essentially collapsed until after statehood came in 1907.<ref name="EOHC-Savanna">{{Cite web|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=SA025.|title = Savanna &#124; the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture}}</ref>

During World War II, the U.S. Navy constructed an ammunition production facility at McAlester. Many of Savanna's work force went to work there. In 1960, the census reported a population of 620, which grew to 948 in 1990.<ref name="EOHC-Savanna"/>