A post office was established at Wister, Indian Territory on June 30, 1890. The community was named for an official of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, one of the two railroads which intersected in the town. At the time of its founding, Wister was located in Sugar Loaf County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation. Until becoming known as Wister, the settlement had been known as Wister Junction, due to its location at the crossing of two railroad routes. The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad was an east-west route linking Wister Junction with McAlester, and passing through lucrative coal mining towns along the way. Its eastern terminus was at the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, a north-south route connecting Fort Smith, Arkansas with Paris, Texas. After receiving its post office the town could no longer be known as Wister Junction, as federal post office regulations forbade new post offices from carrying descriptive names such as "Junction," "Mountain," or "Corner."
Geography
Wister is located at . Wister is east of McAlester and west of the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which, of it is land and of it is water. Wister, OK is also the location of a popular Army Corps of Engineers lake with same name. Crappie, Bass and Catfish are the most frequently sought fish species in lake. Along with fishing, Wister Lake also offers a wide variety of tourist activities like camping, waterskiing and swimming.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,002 people, 412 households, and 276 families residing in the town. The population density was 694.3 people per square mile. There were 450 housing units at an average density of 311.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 83.93% White, 11.18% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 4.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.20% of the population. There were 412 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couplesliving together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.99. In the town, the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $20,602, and the median income for a family was $26,417. Males had a median income of $21,154 versus $15,556 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,851. About 15.5% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.3% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.
