The city got its name from an early white settler and businessman who later became lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. McAlester is located in the eastern part of the state, north of Tulsa, Oklahoma, near the Oklahoma-Texas border. The city got its name from the early settlers and businessmen who later became the deputy governor of Oklahoma.

He learned about the coal deposits in Indian territory when he was a member of the US Army Corps of Engineers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and later as the deputy governor of Oklahoma. During his time in the US Army, he became acquainted with the coal deposits in Indian territory while serving as Deputy Secretary of State for Indian Affairs and the Oklahoma Department of Natural Resources.

McAlester received a map of the coal deposits from an engineer, Oliver Weldon, who had served with him during the war. After the war he had worked for the US surveying in the Indian territory and knew about the rich coal deposits. After his time in the US Army ended, McAlesters went to work as a mining engineer for Reynolds & Hannaford in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy) built a railway line nearby in 1872 and a POW camp was built on the northern city border. The railroad crossed with Katy and created a new settlement known as South McAlester. Businesses flourished in the city, while a few kilometres south of the city, the first post office, a small grocery store and an office building were built.

In 1977, the Navy's ammunition depot was converted into the US Army's ammunition depot and at the beginning of the 21st century, it was the site of a major US Air Force base. In 1998, McAlester became the home of a Defense Ammunition Center (DAC) that moved from Savanna, Illinois, and moved as a tenant to McAlester's Army Ammunition Factory.

The location of the Texas Road trading post spoke for itself, as the Katy Railroad line under construction roughly followed the Shawnee Trail and the Texas Road route south across the Red River. The location of the trading posts on the Texas roads was of great importance to the commercial mail industry because of their proximity to the railroad, which made it a convenient location for construction, for example following the construction of the Katy Line.

The natural settlement point was formed by the Red River and its tributaries, the Shawnee Trail and the Texas Road, and this formed the basis for the present-day city of Malalah, Oklahoma, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City.

The Choctaw Nation calls this region home, and the McAlester Hotel is one of the region's most popular hotels and a major tourist attraction. The McAlster hotel is also a favorite destination for business travelers, including Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and many other universities and colleges.

In North McAlester County, 34.6% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and the occupation. Median income per household in the city is $28,631, and median income per family is $36,480, according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. In the north, the average income of a family of four is between $35,000 and $37,500, while the median income of a two-person household in this city in 2010 is about $26,300. In the North, East, and West, the average income of families with three children ranges from $27,800 to $34,400, with the minimum income being $25,200. Median income for families in northern and eastern Oklahoma City is about $24,700 and in Oklahoma County about $36,480.

The racial composition of the city is comparable to that of Oklahoma City, with a population of about 1.5 million people. The population is divided into age groups, 18.0% of which are 65 years or older, and the lowest age group is between 18 and 0 years.

Residents identify as Irish their ethnicity or descent, and the percentage is even higher in surrounding towns and areas of other mixed-race states.

The city is named after James Perry, a member of the Choctaw family, who founded a trading post in 1854 in the McAlester, Oklahoma area, east of what is now Oklahoma City. The ChoCTaw Coal Railway, which later became Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, was built to serve the rich coal fields east of McAleter. Chadick and his investors bought land south of his general store and quickly developed into a bustling community called South McAledter; the two railway lines that crossed formed a natural trading hub. McAlster quickly acquired land, where he opened a second business and continued to sell coal to the railroad.

Chadick was able to agree with J.J. McAlester on the right path, and he eventually found financing and founded the Choctaw Coal Railway in 1888. After hearing about the railroad's plans to expand into the Indian Territory, and knowing that there were rich coal deposits in the area north of his town of Perryville, he convinced Reynolds and Hannaford that Bucklucksy would be a good location for a new rail line from Perry County to Oklahoma City. After buying Reynolds' stock at a trading post, J., J. and J.'s McAleter traveled to Chicago in 1887 to convince officials to locate the snake near the Buckbucky store.