Flowers for McAlester, OK

Call in a sympathy order to Fostersmcalester on a Tuesday morning and you can nearly trace its route from memory: out along Carl Albert Parkway — named for the McAlester coal miner's son who became Speaker of the House — past the great dome of the Scottish Rite temple, then north to the chapel or east to a family kitchen before the casseroles arrive. That is the scale of this town. McAlester Regional Health Center generates the steadiest weekday tickets, the courthouse square and Choctaw Avenue storefronts collect the thank-yous and birthdays, and the Army Ammunition Plant south of town — the area's biggest employer — accounts for a surprising number of retirement arrangements. Nothing on the map is more than about ten minutes from the cooler it came from.

Other Oklahoma cities.