For more than 150 years, the Town of Calera has stood where the railroad first cut through the Choctaw Nation — a small Oklahoma community with a name born of compromise and a story written along the Katy line.
A Town Born of the Railroad
When the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway — the “Katy” — built its line through the Choctaw Nation in 1872, a community took root on the east side of the tracks. It was named Cale, after railroad official George W. Cale, and the depot quickly became the center of trade and travel for the surrounding countryside.
The Name That Took Decades to Settle
Calera’s name was hard-won. The town’s first post office opened in 1889, and that same year the community was christened Sterrett. But Katy railroad officials refused to recognize the change, continuing to label the stop Cale Switch — or simply Cale. The standoff between town and railroad dragged on for more than two decades. It was finally settled in 1910, when residents adopted Calera as a compromise everyone could accept.
Calera Today
Today, Calera is a growing community in Bryan County, in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma — just north of the Red River and the Texas state line. The railroad heritage that gave the town its start is still part of its identity, even as new families, businesses, and neighborhoods continue to take root.
