In 1939 there were 85 grocers listed in Ardmore. In 1941 the number had dropped to around 80. A lot of corner grocery stores have ceased to exist over the years. As you read over the stores listed below, if you think of any that's not on the list, please let me know. Over the weeks and months ahead, I hope to compile an accurate list of little corner grocery stores that no longer exist. Any help is appreciated. Also I hope to include little grocery stores that were scattered throughout Carter county. So pass those along too, and lets build a list that covers the whole county.
Ardmore, Oklahoma Grocers
A&P Grocery. (Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) 230 and 232 West Main in SE corner of West Main and C Street. 1940
Baber's Grocery, south across 5th from Washington School. 1930s
Bartgis Grocery. 691 12th Street NW at Wolverton and 11th NW. Started before 1950 by George Bartgis.
Bays Grocery. 821 11th SE at 11th and Carter SE. Arthur Bays. 1949. Around 1960 it became Keeton Grocery.
Boyd's Grocery. 220 Lake Murray Drive at Lake Murray Drive and C Street SE. 1967. Bill Boyd. Also a store at 720 West Broadway.
Brook's Grocery. 125 7th Street NE at 7th and B Street NE. Homer and Lillian Brooks. 1960
Burchfield's Grocery. 735 11th NW. Later moved to 217 McCullough S.W.
Butler Grocery was on the corner of 9th and A NW.
Chowning Grocery. 834 3rd NE. Andrew and Eliz Chowning. Started around 1930. Later became Hickman's Laundromat and then later Hickman's Grocery.
Coe's Grocery. 519 Douglas SE. Clint "Bud" Coe. 1960
Couch Grocery, 6th and E Street NW.
Cox Grocery. 701 6th Street NE in the NE corner of 6th and G Street NE. Houston Cox was the second owner. Basil Moran was the original propietor. Basil sold later to Houston Cox.
Davis Grocery. 207 C Street NW. J.L. Davis. 1960
Davis Grocery. 619 3rd NE. Ran by Mr Ed Davis and his twin daugheters, Eddie Lou and Betty Sue and his wife in the 1930s and 1940s. The store was later Sperry Grocery, Fred Sperry around 1960.
Darnell's Grocery and Station, 3rd and P Street NE.
Joe's IGA. 501 12th Street NW. NW Corner of 12th and E Street NW. Elton Dragg. 1950 and 1960
Elles Grocery. 718 B Street NW. Eddie Elles. 1960. Here is a 1997 photo of Elles grocery.
Ezy-Way Grocery. 201 South Washington across from Colvert's Dairy. Started around 1950. In 1960 this building was occupied by Chickasaw Regional Library System. Also an Ezy-Way Corp grocery store at 1024 12th Street NW.
Flannerys grocery store on west Mclish SW where the Frame shop is located. 1942
Ford's Grocery. 702 Lake Murray Drive at F Street SE. Brownie Ford. 1960
Fraser's Grocery Store, E and East Main.
Goodin Grocery. 1203 6th NE at 6th and M Street NE. Clara May Goodin. 1960
Greenfront Grocery. 200 block West Main
Hammer's Grocery. 908 C Street SW. Loren Hammer. Was orginally at 301 11th NE in 1939
Harrison Grocery. 1500 3rd NE at 3rd NE and P Street. James F. Harrison. 1960.
Hart's Grocery. 1424 3rd NE. SW corner of 3rd and P Street NE. 1941. Clarence Hart. Later sold parakeets. Harts later moved the store into 1500 3rd NE which around 1960 became Harrison Grocery.
Heartsill Grocery. 412 C Street SW at C Street and 5th SW. Hobart and Sadye Heartsill. Around 1951. Heartsills lived next door to store at 410 C Street SW.
Hickman's Grocery. 834 3rd NE. Jess Hickman. 1960.
Hodges' Candy and Novelty Store. 410 4th SE across from Jefferson School at 4th and E Street SE. Stanley M. Hodges Sr. 1960
Holmes Grocery, 11th and A Street NW.
Hornbeak Grocery. 816 Roff NE near Roff and H Street NE. Luther Hornbeak. 1960
Howell's Grocery. Broadlawn Shopping Center.
Hunt's Food Mart. 726 3rd NE at 3rd and H Street NE. Herman O. Hunt. In 1941 it as W.L. Cast Grocery. Before that starting about 1935 it was Tanner and Davis Grocery. Charles B. Tanner.
Keeton Grocery. 821 11th SE at 11th and Carter SE. Around 1960. V.K. Keeton. Store was owned by Arthur Bays originally. Keeton moved to 10th and Lake Murray Drive later.
Keith's Grocery. Small rock building on 12th N.W. near Harris Street.
Lamb's Grocery. 1121 E Street NW in the SW corner of E and 12th NW. The grocery was orignally started around 1935 at 519 5h SE (Lake Murray Drive) by Walter G. Lamb and his wife Nannie. In 1949 it was Crews and Lamb Grocery. John Crews and W. Don Lamb located at 1121 E Street NW
Lewis Grocery. Started at 118 L SW around 1945 by James T. Lewis. Address would later become 118 South Commerce. Continued until the 1960s by Jimmy F. Lewis.
Luke's IGA. West Broadway and Commerce where Blockbuster is now located.
Mac's Minit Mart. 1024 12th NW (Citizen Bank now located). Delbert McGuire. 1966.
Minter's Grocery store on the grocery store list. Clyde Minter, owner. It did burn a long time. It was on the NE corner of Hwy 70 and Plainview Road. Across the street/hwy from the car lots. I there's a car wash there now.
McElreath Grocery. E.D McElreath. SE corner of North Washington and 2nd.
Moore's Grocery. 501 6th Street NW across from Franklin School. Dorn Moore. Started about 1955.
Moran Grocery. J. J. Moran. 540 12th NW. 1946.
Moran Grocery. 701 6th NE. 6th and G NE. Basil Moran owner. Houston Cox would later be the owner. The store when it was wood. And here is the store rebuilt as a brick grocery store.
Parker's Grocery. 827 5th NE in the NW corner of 5th and I Street NE. Carl Parker. 1960
Payne's Grocery. 927 C Steet SE. Wayne Payne. 1967.
Pittman Grocery. 1123 4th NE. 1960
Pratts Grocery. 114 A Street NE (Caddo) and 815 West Broadway. 1940
Pruitt's Grocery and Service Station, 9th and A Street NE.
Pugh's Grocery and Feed, Caddo and Broadway, 1930s to 1960s
Short Stop Food Mart. 1024 12th NW. Ray Hammer, Mgr. 1961. Before 1961 it was Ezy-Way. 1957
Sperry Grocery. 623 6th NE at 6th and G Street NE. Paul Sperry. 1941. This store was across the street west from Cox Grocery. Paul and Fred Sperry were uncles of present day Bob Sperry of Ardmore, father of DA Mitch Sperry.
Sperry Grocery. 619 3rd NE between F and G Streets. Fred Sperry. 1960
Sperry Grocery. 621 C Street NW the SW corner of C Street and 7th NW. Paul Sperry.
Sunshine Grocery Store. 1401 A Street NE. E.S. and Jesse L Williams. 1941
Taylor Foods. 1023 A NE, SW corner of A Street NE and 11th. 1941. Original building destroyed by fire in the 1960s.
Tipps Boys Grocery. 701 6th NE at 6th and G Street NE. Around 1965. Cox's Automatic Laundry was next door at 703 in 1965.
Thompson's Grocery was located at Q and McLish SW back in the 70s.
Trotters Family Store. corner of 'C' street SE & 10th Ave. 1945 until somewhere near or after 1960.
Sooner Food. 1213 North Washington at 12th and North Washington.
Vanderburg Grocery. 903 7th NE. Floyd Vanderburg Jr. Started around 1955. Around 1975 he moved it to 213 A Street NE.
Vann's Grocery, 3rd and A Street NE. 1930s
Wade Grocery. 501 12th NW. Walter Wade. 1946
Wilson Grocery. 423 K Street NE in the SW corner of K Street and 5th NE. Charles Wilson ran this store out of the front of his house. 1949 and 1950
Carter County Grocers
Arnold's General Store operated from 1953-1969 and I remeber it being on 77, west side, right in Springer. This link is an announcement of the Arnold's 50th wedding anniversary with a little info on the store. http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/091502/scr_arnold.shtml
Walt's Quick Check, Highway South, Healdton. 1970s to mid 1980s
Bray's Grocery, Main Street, Healdton
Couch Grocery, Main and 4th Street, Healdton, Oklahoma. Horace and Ina Pearl Couch, 1945
Prater Grocery, on Texas Street one block north of Sunset Grade School, Healdton, Oklahoma
Jim Teel's Grocery, Healdton, Oklahoma
Emmitt Gauntt's Grocery, Healdton, Oklahoma
Hammett's in Lone Grove ran by Ned Hammett
Hyde's Grocery, west of Lone Grove before the Bayou on the north side of Highway 70, ran by Jess Hyde. (The front porch had a hole in the floor and a great thrill for us kids was when Mr. Hyde would ask us to "empty out the lids." This meant that we got to take the pop bottle lids from the front of the pop box and dump the lids down into that hole in the porch. There's no telling how many lids were under there. We were easily entertained in those days.)
Shorty Claxton's, Healdton, Oklahoma
Phipp's in Fox, ran by Jess Phipps
Pratt's Grocery, Healdton, Oklahoma
Riesner's Grocery in Lone Grove, ran by Lawrence Riesner
Northside Grocery, Healdton, Oklahoma
Hill's Grocery, 5th Street, Healdton, Oklahoma. 1930s 1940s
Gertie Morgan's Cash Grocery, Highway north of town, Healdton, Oklahoma. 1930s 1940s
Shorty "Nolegs" Gibson Grocery, 5th and Gilmore, Healdton, Oklahoma. 1930s 1940s
Lee's Grocery, Wilson, Oklahoma
Satterwhite Grocery at Woodford, Oklahoma. It was owned by Ray and Florence Satterwhite from 1958 to December 6, 1990.
Steele's Grocery, Main street, Wilson, Oklahoma
Theo Knight Store, 3 mile west of Milo on Hy 53 and Poolville rd. 1935
Wooldridge's in Graham and in Ratliff City, ran by brothers. Robert had the more successful store in Ratliff and I believe his brother's name was John who had the Graham store.
Jones Grocery, Rexroat, Oklahoma. Mary Wilson of Lone Grove, Oklahoma parents, George and Margaret Jones, owned the store. Rexroat was 3 miles north of Highway 70 on Dillard Road and 1 mile east. The Jones' Grocer was across the street from the Rexroat School at that location. 1953 photo.
09/25/2006 "Butch, When I was a grade schooler at Fox in the 1940s, there was a family named Thomas who had a grocery at Ratliff City. Later they moved it to Pruitt City. I don't remember the names of the adults but they had kids named Ruthie, Doyle, James (who was an excellent boxer/athlete at Fox) and one or two other kids. The old Thomas Grocery building is still standing at Pruitt, on the west side of Hwy 76. There were two other groceries, both in Wilson. There was a Brimer Grocery, owned and operated by Sam Brimer, and a Super C Grocery (ownership unknown)." -Jim Bramlett
Love County Grocers
One at Overbrook. It was also a post office
Ambert and Helma Page store on the corner of Oswalt road and the road going north to Marsden
Jesse Testerman's Grocery, across from Greenville, Oklahoma school. 1940
Murray County Grocers
Miller Grocery, Bob Miller, half way between Davis and Sulphur. 1930s
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Contact:
Butch Bridges butchbridges@sbcglobal.net
Phone 580-223-0892
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
Updated: November 26, 2003
