From: "Coe, Mark S." To: Subject: [connectoklahoma] Ardmore History Date: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 9:42 AM Some Events in the History of Ardmore, Oklahoma 1880 Ranch house built on the 700 Ranch, the first known man-made structure within the townsite. May 1886 A railroad crew drives a stake to mark the site of a future station. This site is named Ardmore, after a town in Pennsylvania. July 28, 1887 The first train (Santa Fe Railroad) arrives in Ardmore. The town consists of a few tents, but the train brings lumber and other building supplies. Among the tents were two containing stores. One run by Mr. Zuckerman and another by the Frensley brothers. Not a single tree exists within the townsite west of the railroad tracks. Caddo Street becomes the first named street in town. So named because it was originally a old wagon road from the 700 Ranch house north to Caddo Creek. Oct 27, 1887 A post office is established in Ardmore, with Hillard J. Yarbrough as the first postmaster. 1887 Dr. Walter Hardy arrives in Ardmore. He practices medicine in Ardmore for many years. In 1911, Dr. Hardy and Dr. F.P. Von Keller open the Hardy Sanitarium. 1888 Westheimer & Daube store opened by Sam Daube, Dave Daube, and Max Westheimer. Sam Daube was born in Germany in 1859 and came to America in 1877. After struggling to earn a living in New York he moved west, and in 1883 opened a general store in Bowie, Texas. Sam came to Ardmore in 1885, still retaining the store in Bowie. After marrying in Chicago in 1894, Sam and his wife, Ida, returned to Ardmore and became permanent residents. The Daube family home stood where Ardmore's Community Swimming Pool is now located. Sam Daube died in 1946. 1889 City of Ardmore incorporated. 1890 A federal court is established in Ardmore. 1890 The first Jewish congregation in what will become the State of Oklahoma is founded in Ardmore. 1890 First National Bank established. The first nationally chartered bank in Indian Territory. 1890's Each year 50-60 thousand bales of cotton, with a value of over $1 million, are sold in Ardmore. This continues for many years. During the Fall, it is common for a line of cotton wagons over three miles long to form. 1891 The original Whittington Hotel, a wooden structure, opened at the corner of Main and Caddo streets. Wiley F. Whittington, a former Confederate Army captain, came to Ardmore from Dexter, Texas. Following the Great Fire of 1895, a 72-room brick and sandstone hotel was built on the same site. A second reconstruction was needed after the rail yard explosion in 1915. The Whittington featured the first metal cage Otis elevator in Ardmore. After Wiley's death, his daughter Jewel operated the hotel until it closed in 1965. The building was razed for the bricks and fixtures. 1893 "The Daily Ardmoreite" begins publication. 1893 In 1893, E.B. Luke came to Ardmore from Detroit, Michigan. At the time, his brother, Jack Luke, operated a music and school book store in Oklahoma City. He urged E.B. to open a similar store in Ardmore. In 1895, Luke's Music Store opened on east Main Street near the Whittington Hotel. Following the rail yard explosion in 1915, the store moved to 212 West Main. In the early years, the store delivered pianos via horse and buggy throughout the Chickasaw Nation. Over the years, the scope of merchandise increased. Appliances were added during World War I, and a complete line of sporting goods was added after World War II. Following the death of E.B. in 1942, the store was operated by his son, Ed, until it closed in the early 1980's. 1893 Ardmore's town baseball team, The Browns, is formed. 1893 John J. Stolfa, Sr. arrives in Ardmore and opens a tailor shop. Born in Moravia in 1866, Stolfa came to the US in 1889, settling first in Texas. He was involved in a variety of Ardmore businesses, including cattle ranching ("Lazy S Ranch"), groceries and dry goods, and cotton trading. Mr. Stolfa also excelled in longevity, living past the age of 100. His descendents still operate Stolfa Brothers Hardware in Ardmore. 1893 Brothers Sam and Ed Noble arrive in Ardmore. They are married to sisters Hattie and Eva Skinner, formerly from western New York. The Noble brother's grocery store was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1895. They then opened Noble Brothers Hardware. Sam's son, Lloyd, became a success in the oil business and founded by Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. 1895 Hargrove College, a Methodist elementary and secondary boarding school is established. In 1917, it is renamed Carter Seminary. April 19, 1895 The Great Fire of 1895. Eighty-six buildings destroyed on Main, A Street, Caddo Street, and Broadway. Fortunately, there is no loss of life. The town's population is 3000. 1897 Broadway Methodist Church built at the corner of "B" and Broadway. 1898 A Catholic girl's school is established. April 16, 1898 The federal court grants Ardmore a city charter. The town's population is listed in the charter as 6200, which is probably too generous. July 5, 1898 First city elections held. 1898 Telephone and electric services established. Sept 11, 1899 Ardmore Public Schools open. 1902 Two more railroads, "The Frisco" and "The Rock Island", begin service to Ardmore. 1902 For the first time, individual ownership of land is possible. Prior to this, all land was communally owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Contrary to popular belief, there was never a "land run" in this part of Oklahoma. 1903 Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst hires a special train to carry U.S. congressman to the Oklahoma and Indian Territories in order to promote statehood. 4000 people greet the train when it arrives in Ardmore. 1903 First motion picture shown in Ardmore. "The Great Train Robbery" is shown in a tent at the corner of Main and C Streets. 1903-1908 Mayor R.W. Dick becomes driving force behind many city improvements, including paved roads, water and sewage systems, a new city hall, and an improved fire department. He becomes known as "the man who paved Ardmore". 1905 The first oil well in the area is drilled NW of town. 1905 Dr. Charles Evans becomes the new school superintendent. He changes the numerical designations of the four "ward schools" to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Franklin Elementary. He ends the flying of the Confederate flag on Ardmore's schools, replacing it with the "Stars and Stripes". Under his tenure, a new high school building opens. Dr. Evans hires Harry Meade as the first football coach of AHS in 1907. In 1908, Dr. Evans is elected the first president of the Oklahoma Education Association. He later becomes head of Central State College in Edmond, and head of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Returning to live in Ardmore during his retirement, a newly build elementary school is named for him in 1953. 1904-05 Carnegie Library built. In 1903, Mrs. Hosea Townsend, wife of a U.S. District Judge, contacted Andrew Carnegie for assistance in building a library in Ardmore. Mr. C.L. Anderson of Ardmore's First National Bank completed the negotiations, and Mr. Carnegie gave $15,000 to establish Ardmore's first library. Mayor R.W. Dick was also a driving force to get the library built. Carnegie Library sat vacant for over a year and was formally opened on October 1, 1906. Mrs. Myrtle Jones was the first librarian, serving in that post until 1946. During much of her tenure, Mrs. Jones worked without an assistant and with no vacation. The Oreo Club, an important Ardmore women's club, purchased or solicited many of the library's books during the first years of operation. 1906 Ardmore's first movie theater, The Theatorium, opens. 1906 The first automobiles arrive in Ardmore. 1906 The Bankers National Bank building opens. The bank changed it's name to American National Bank and operated in this building until 1916, when the bank moved across the street into the Colston Building, later called the Little Building. City State Bank was in the "Bankers" building from 1917 until 1928. The Ardmore Chamber of Commerce then assumed occupancy until 1954. The Bankers National building is now called the Dunlap Building and has been owned by the Dunlap family since 1937. 1907 With statehood, Carter County is established. The county is named for Charles D. Carter, the first U.S. congressman from Oklahoma's third congressional district. Carter served in congress for 20 years. He died in Ardmore in 1929 and is interred at Rose Hill Cemetery. 1907 The Ardmore Electric Railway Company (trolley) begins operations on Main Street. Tracks eventually ran west on Main from the train station to C Street, north on C to 8th, west on 8th to Wolverton, and north on Wolverton to Dornick Hills and the car barn. Service ended in 1922. 1910 Carter County Courthouse opens. 1911- Ardmore's minor league baseball teams: 1911-1914 Texas-Oklahoma League 1917, 1923-1926 Western Association 1924 Oklahoma State League 1947-1957 Sooner State League 1911 The Oklahoma Confederate Veterans Home opens. In 1949, "Confederate" is dropped from the name. 1911 Ardmore playwrights Herbert Butzow and Jack Burnett publish their play, "The Gallery God". 1911- Robert A. Hefner serves as Ardmore city attorney from 1911-1913. He was president of the Ardmore school board from 1911-1918, mayor of Ardmore from 1921-1927, served on the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1927-1933, and was mayor of Oklahoma City from 1939-1947. 1911-1915 Lee Cruce, of Ardmore, serves as Oklahoma's second governor. 1912 The "Oklahoma, New Mexico, & Pacific Railroad" begins operations in Ardmore. Despite the grand name, the RR only provides service from Ardmore to Ringling, 25 miles to the west. 1915 At approximately 2:20 PM on September 27, 1915, a gasoline tank car exploded in Ardmore's rail yard. The tank car was 300 feet southeast of the passenger station. The explosion left many buildings badly damaged or completely destroyed. The death toll was 40, and scores more were injured. A rescue train was dispatched from Gainesville, Texas. The locomotive that pulled the rescue train is now on display near the Hardy Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore. Since the "natural gasoline" was an illegal shipment, the Santa Fe Railroad was not legally liable. Despite this, the railroad contributed $1 Million to assist the town and its residents. 1917 Convention Hall opens. This building was replaced, on the same site, by The Civic Auditorium. 1920's Ardmore is booming, riding the twin economic waves of oil and cotton. U.S. Highways 77 and 70 are built. The town contains five oil refineries, a gun factory, and iron foundry, a stove factory, two candy factories, a cotton seed oil mill, a cotton compress, cattle feed lots, two dairy plants, two brick plants, coal and asphalt mining, five banks, a commercial airport and pilot school, a radio station, and an air ambulance service. 1922 YMCA opens. 1924 Hardy Sanitarium hosts the first of many clinics for children with polio. Ardmore's Rotary Club provides the impetus and financial backing. 1934 Lloyd Noble is named to OU's board of regents. 1938 Lake Murray State Park opens. 1942 Ardmore Army Air Force Base opens. 1945 The air base opens a prisoner of war camp. 200-300 POW's are confined in the facility. 1946 Roy Rogers and Dale Evans come to southern Oklahoma to shoot the movie "Home in Oklahoma". Scenes are shot at the Flying L Ranch near Davis, the Hereford Heaven Ranch near Sulphur, and at Turner Falls. In late 1947, they return to the area and are married in a private ceremony at the Flying L Ranch on December 31, 1947. The next day, they repeat their vows in a public ceremony at Ardmore's Civic Auditorium. Music is provided by the Sons of the Pioneers and admission is 50 cents. May 1955 Memorial Hospital opens. 1966 A military charter airplane crashes north of Ardmore killing all 83 aboard.