[4] The town is named for Chester C. Atwood, an early settler of what would later become Hughes County, Oklahoma.

Atwood was an educated farmer, extensive area landowner, and elected commissioner of Hughes County.

In 1881, Atwood left Texas for the Mushulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Settling in western Tobucksy County, some 28 miles (45 km) west of a pioneer general store owned by J.J. McAlester, Atwood married a young woman named Patsy Ann, of the Choctaw Nation, giving him settlement rights by marriage.

By 1885, he was farming 25 acres (100,000 m2) of what later would become eastern Hughes County, and was enumerated in the Choctaw Nation census of that year.

[5] Population growth in the community near the Atwood farm brought a post office designation January 23, 1897, with "Newburg" as the assigned name and Henry S. Halloway established as postmaster.

[5] A weekly newspaper, the Atwood Herald, kept citizens informed during the early 20th Century.

By 1900, Chester Atwood had increased his land holdings and his family included wife Patsy Ann (familiarly called Mattie), daughters Ottie (b.

The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway [a] built a line from Muskogee to the Red River, bypassing Newburg.

[5] The post office in Atwood was slated for possible closure by the United States Postal Service in 2012.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Atwood has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.7 km2), all land.