The first settlement of present day Pittsburg by non-indigenous peoples was in 1899 when Daniel Edwards, accompanied by son Thomas, placed a coal shaft two miles east of Kiowa, in Choctaw Nation.

In 1903, the United States Postal Service established a post office in Cowpers and appointed Daniel Edwards as postmaster.

[4] Its name was changed to Edwards, Indian Territory, on September 3, 1903, and to Pittsburg, Oklahoma, on August 27, 1909.

The town was in the area of the boundary between Atoka and Tobucksy counties, and differing maps of the era placed it in each.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2), all land.