Henryetta began when Hugh Henry arrived in the area in 1885 and discovered coal in the creeks.
The land where he pitched his tent belonged to the Creek Nation, one of the Five Civilized Tribes.
Since he was part Creek, he established his ranching operations using the coal he found to fire the forge of his smithy.
Those coal deposits came to the attention of businessmen back east and soon the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad and the Okmulgee Norther Railway opened several active mines throughout the area.
A settlement called Furrs started next to the mining operations then, on August 28, 1900, a post office opened with the official name of Henryetta. The name came from resident Henry G. Beard and his wife, Etta.
In 1901 a city government was formed and Olin Meacham served as the first Mayor.
Coal, oil, natural gas, and agricultural products provided Henryetta's economic base. By 1909 a total of 14 coal mines produced 65,000 tons each month, with a reported $74,000 payroll flowing back into the town's economy.
In 1931 Henryetta claimed 23 industrial plants that included 12 coal mines, a broom factory, brick factories, and a bottling plant. During the late 1940s and early 1950s the Pittsburgh Plate Glass facility, the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi River, employed 900 people. At the same time, the Eagle-Picher Company utilized more than 700 workers to produce three-fourths of the free world's supply of the rare metal germanium.
Rodeo and famous rodeo cowboys and cowgirls are entrenched in the fabric of Henryetta's history. In fact, when you mention Henryetta, Oklahoma at the largest rodeos in in our nation, such as, Cheyenne, Wyoming's Frontier Days, the fans immediately begin to tell you about the rodeo heroes from the Henryetta area.