This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 14 Issue 710 Circulation 5,000 September 2, 2010
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616
1880 Ranch house built on the 700 Ranch, the first known man-made structure
within the townsite. Built by Alva Buckingham Roff, the ranch house was located
on the west fork of Anadarche Creek at what became the corner of G Street and
2nd Avenue, SE. It was a double log house, the two sections divided by the
traditional ?dog-trot? breezeway. The house is now located in the historical
museum. The 700 Ranch was then in Pickens County, Chickasaw Indian Nation, named
for Edmund Pickens, a prominent Chickasaw.
May 1886 A railroad survey crew drives a stake to mark the site of a future
station. This site is named Ardmore, after a town in Pennsylvania.
July 1887 Main Street is laid out when Jim Staples plows a furrow in the prairie
a quarter mile long west of the railroad tracks.
1897 Dr. Walter Hardy arrives in Ardmore. A graduate of Missouri Medical College
in St. Louis, he practices medicine in Ardmore for many years. In 1911, Dr.
Hardy and Dr. Frederick P. Von Keller open the Hardy Sanitarium. Ardmore?s
original hospital was opened in 1901 by Dr. Hardy, Dr. Von Keller, and Dr.
Robert H. Henry. It was located at the corner of Caddo and Main Streets, above
Ramsey?s Drug Store.
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 Sam Zuckerman
and another by Frank & Bob Frensley. 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 an old wagon road from the
700 Ranch house north to Caddo Creek.
August 10, 1887 Dan & Emily Fitch sold to Richard McLish for $1200 a piece of
property known as Ardmore Station (depot) on the Gulf Coast and Santa Fe
Railroad.
Oct 27, 1887 A post office is established in Ardmore, with Dr. Hillard J.
Yarbrough as the first postmaster. Dr. Yarbrough was also the town?s first
physician. His medical-post office on the southeast corner of Main and Caddo was
a one-room operation, often with both activities occurring at the same time.
1887 Ardmore?s first hotel, the Buckles Hotel, is built on the northwest corner
of Caddo and Main.
July 12, 1888 Dan Fitch sold to Richard McLish for $600 the Ardmore property
formerly known as the 700 Ranch located at 2nd and G Street SE. The 700 Ranch is
now on display inside the Greater Southwest Historical Museum in Ardmore.
1888 A well is dug in the middle of Main Street about 200 feet west of Caddo
Street. It becomes one of the town landmarks as farmers water their teams from
the well before going to a wagon yard. It supplied Main Street merchants with
water until water mains were laid in 1902.
1888 The town?s first newspaper, the weekly ?Ardmore Weekly Courier?, is
established
1888 T.B. King establishes King?s College, the first subscription school in
Ardmore. It was a two room frame building on the northwest corner of Broadway
and Washington. Grades first through eighth were taught.
Don't forget Saturday, September 11th is the 21st annual Auction and Crafts at Clarita, Oklahoma put on by the Amish community in that area. It is expected to draw 10,000 people this year.
Steve Maxwell stopped by this week to show me a picture of his new toy. Well its not exactly new, but its new to him. Its a 90 foot long riverboat (paddle wheel) he bought. It was built at Lake Lewisville near Dallas, and later the owner decided to move it to Lake Texoma. Its docked near Cumberland Cove. He has a few minor repairs to do and hopefully soon Jill and I can take a look-see for ourselves!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/MaxwellRiverboat.jpg
For those of you who don't subscribe to the Daily Ardmoreite, there was an article on the front page about the courthouse tower clock last Monday. I was interviewed about the Seth Thomas clock. Phil Banker did a great job reporting it. There is even a color pic of yours truly, so don't laugh. lol
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/TowerClock083010a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/TowerClock083010b.jpg
Q. Who was the "Cherokee
Bandit"?
A. Ned Christie
Q. What is the highest
waterfall in Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's issue)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"A gentleman named Minor Satterwhite , who has since passed, in Chickasha did all of my water well work, and I'm guessing he is related to the Ray Satterwhite at Woodford mentioned in your newsletter last week.""Butch, I knew Fred Hudson. Back in the 60s, he was working security at Leroy?s Corral in Marietta on Saturday nights. I used to play piano with the band sometimes and occasionally I brought a girlfriend to dance. I?m not sure of Fred?s connection with law enforcement. He wore a pistol and I think he had a badge of some sort. After Leroy?s closed, Fred worked up the road at a dance hall around the curve north of Greenville School on old 77. The last time I saw him, I took my wife there. I lived in Singapore then and was home on vacation. It was probably 1971. My aunt, Doris Calley, told me he got killed in an accident around that place?crushed between two cars I think she said. She had known him for a long time. He was a good guy and I really liked him." -Jim in TX
The Ardmore High School Class of 1965 is having a 45 year reunion September 24, 25 and 26, 2010. We are looking for the following people: Cheryl A. Ashmore, Linda Battle, Steven Joe Bowling, Donald W. (Bill) Buchanan, Dianna Christy, Dorothy Davis, Mary Davis, Bob Dearmore, William (Bill) Fuller, Doris Hardegree, Vicki Hardegree, Vonda Hobbs, Patsy Jones, Lewis Franklin Knight, Wendy Jane Davis, Vicki Michelle Laverents, Charlotte Lavette, Bonnie Rebecca Cochran Lowry, Sherry Messick Lloyd, David Mc Clendon, Susan Mc Lean, Reba Joy Nall, Sharon Parks, Norma Peace, Valerie Perry, Linda Jean Pitts, Linda Powell, Jerry Roe, David E. Smith, James Stidham, Steve Vaughn, Linda Marie Wilkins, David Richard Wilson and Margaret Wise. If anyone has information on any of the above, please email: alaarch@swbell.net or bobbyeahs1965@yahoo.com
"The original owners of the store at the corner of hwy 77 and 53 (north of Springer) were Bill and Jesse Plumblie (not sure of the spelling of last name). Bill was shot and killed in an attempted robbery. You may check the Davis cemetery. I know that when Jesse died she was buried next to Bill. They had the plot before his murder. After Bill's death Jesse married my great uncle, Murl Cox. We lived north of there about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile until around 1965. I was 8 when we moved to the Cedar Falls ranch between Springer and Gene Autry, so my memory is a bit fuzzy as to exact dates and the spelling." -Raymond Cox, Salt Lake City, UT
"One of the names of the grocery store at highway 53 and 77 was Smith's, it was owned or ran by Helen and George Smith during the early 70s. Also in regards to Wiley Post connection to Ardmore, he was married to one of my cousins." -Steve Maxwell
"I remember as a child in the early 50's walking to a small store located on the northwest corner of 12th and "E" street NW intersection in Ardmore. We always called it Joe's Supermarket. My mother would give my brother and me a dollar to go get her 2 packs of King size Chesterfields cigarettes and we would have enough change left over to get each of us a cold soda pop or a "good-size" candy bar and bring home change. The building is still there located across the street to the west of T&M pharmacy." -Jackie Woodward, Lone Grove
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos10a/JoesGrocery.jpg
"The Davis Grocery Store at 207 C NW, was founded by J.W. Davis in 1898. The original store was in the200 block of East Main. Later it moved to the 100 block of West main then to 213 C NW. Then the new store at 207 C NW until 1961 when the business closed." -George W Davis grandson of J.W Davis
"My dad was Jack Parker who retired from the post office in Ardmore. He had a brother who was a butcher in the Wilson - Healdton area for several years. His name was Albert Parker. I believe he worked for Pratt's Foods at one time. In the late 50's or early 60's I remember going to visit my cousin Carol, Albert's daughter. We went to the slaughter house with him and I saw my first " cow butchering". It was an experience I remember vividly to this day! After the meat was cut into sections, it was laid on clean paper in the back of the pickup truck and taken straight to the store for "further dissection". My cousin and I rode on the side of the truck hanging onto the rails. Little did we know that dirt from our shoes scraping the rails had gotten on some of the meat closest to us. I remember Uncle Albert sternly chastising us saying "People have to eat this meat! He washed the meat and we did not go with him again. Aahhhh! Good stuff!" -Jackie Woodward, Lone Grove
"Butch, An addition to your store list: Pooleville General Store. I don't know the exact dates, but this store was established by the Majors family in the late 1920 or early 1930's. Sometime in the late 1930's the store was purchased by Vida and Elmer Sheldon, and they operated it until it burned sometime toward the end of World War II. This was a real general country store that had everything from "coal oil" to clothing to groceries. The Sheldons were relatives, and are both gone now." -Virgil Harris
"I was trying to research this, too. I lived in Marietta, OK at the time, but remember buying an "educated burger" in Wichita Falls, TX. That was in 1951-2. That was the first time I had ever heard the term used, but my mom who grew up around the Wichita Falls area says she remembers it used as far back as she could remember and she is almost 90. She says that is just what people called them back then. I would sure like to find more information about the term. I believe that it referred to a hamburger without onion or mustard and with lettuce, tomato, and mayonaise." -Char
"Doug Bennett's parents ran a grocery store in the 1930's on Telephone Road west of Springer, west across what is now I-35 and across Philip Creek, on the north side of the road."
"Butch, my grandmother, Jessie Speake owned a two-story brick general store at Milo. She also was the postmaster and the post office was in the store. It had a big covered front porch. She carried everything from levis, fabric, thread, groceries, feed, fresh meat, you name it, it was there. Beside it was a filling station that Orville Robinson owned and attached to that was a little cafe his wife Dora ran. She made the best hamburgers. My grandmother was a wonderful seamstress and sewed for the public. She also gave the occasional penicillin shot when needed! I believe other owners of this store were Myrtle Brown and Tina Johnston. We went to the store every weekday at 10:00 to get a grapette and the mail. Across the road from Satterwhite's in Woodford was another small store owned by the Hitts. I don't know alot about it other than it was there." -Nancy Milson
"As others have mentioned, the hummingbirds are really hitting the sugar water these days, storing up for the long flight back to Mexico for the winter. When they start flocking heavily, you can be sure they will all be leaving soon. But I have a really crazy red bellied woodpecker who seems to think he is a hummingbird. Several times now I have seen him hanging on the feeders and sipping the sugar water. I have fed hummers for several years, but never saw that before. Anybody know a good bird psychiatrist?" -Joh G. at Sulphur
"I am writing in regards to info on the original old Fort Arbuckle. I grew up and still live near it. It is off of hwy 412 on exit 209. It is about 6 or 7 miles west of Sand Springs, Oklahoma. The fort is on the national register of historical places. Site # 78002269. There is an old sign for it on the property with a picture of what the fort had looked like. Unfortunately the property is up for sale for commercial use. If you want to see it you may want to do it now." -Paula McDaniels
"Saw your page on the net. My family has been looking for information on my grandmother her name was Maud Leeper and I have tracked her down to maybe being born in Ardmore Ok. She has a relative named Clothilde Leeper that is buried there too. The family has spent many years trying to find out exactly where she was born and died. She married my grandfather named Walter Mullins in Montague Texas, and they lived in Childress Texas. My grandmother disappeared in life and we never have found her. Any information about the Leepers in Ardmore would be appreciated." -Larry Landon, Grandfield, OK landonok@pldi.net
"The first step toward getting somewhere is to decide you are not going to stay where you are" -Chauncey Depew
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my Website.
Feel free to forward this free newsletter. Mailouts: over 1,600.
To be removed from my T&T mailings, just send me an email.
I do not sell, trade or give my mailing list to anyone for any reason.