The Quapaw were removed to the area in the 1830s by the federal government after residing for hundreds of years on the west side of the Mississippi River in what later entered the union as the state of Arkansas.

In 1906, Hatton developed the Emma Gordon zinc and lead mine, whose resources had attracted workers.

[6] Starting in 1908, the Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Inter-Urban Railway built a line between Miami and Commerce to serve the mining industry.

In April 1934, Bonnie and Clyde and their associate Henry Methvin killed Commerce Constable William C. Campbell and kidnapped police chief Percy Boyd.

In 1935, in an event that would later become notable in retrospect, Mickey Mantle's father would move his family to Commerce, to work as a miner.

Most mines closed by 1960, due to a declining market and the realization of extensive environmental damage to ground, water and air.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all land.