PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402 Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net Phone: 580-490-6823
In the 1930s and before there was a Walcott Street in NW Ardmore. I have not determined exactly where yet. I think it might have been 14th NW? I’m sure the street was named after the United States Commissioner Arthur Walcott and Lutie Walcott family. They owned several hundred acres in the south part of Ardmore (Walcott Addition), and even donated the land for Rose Hill Cemetery and the Veterans Center on South Commerce.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WalcottNW1935.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/LutieWalcottMarker.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/LutieWalcottPlaque.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/LutieWalcottPlot.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/LutieWalcott6a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/LutieWalcott6b.jpg
I took this pic in 2001 of the old Cornish, Oklahoma water well south of Ringling. I’ve been told its still there beside the street (Main Street).
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CornishWell2001.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CornishWishingWell.jpg
This is the same water well back in 1960.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CornishWell_1960.jpg
Only two pharmacies in Ardmore in 1941…..
Ardmore Pharmacy at 10-12 West Main and Gravitt Drug at 620 West Main
Ardmore Restaurants 1941
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ArdmoreRestaurants1941.jpg
Ardmore Physicians 1941
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ArdmorePhysicians1941.jpg
Ardmore theaters 1941
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ArdmoreTheaters1941.jpg
Oklahoma History Revisited by Larry Guthrie, Sulphur
Question: The 1950 “Hills of Oklahoma” was a remake of what movie?
Answer: In this remake of Gene Autry’s 1942 “Call of the Canyon”, Rex Allen, the newly-elected head of the cattleman’s association, is driving the combined herds of the ranchers to the nearest rail head when he runs into trouble. The drive is stopped by Brock Stevens, whose father is a power in the meat-packing industry, and whose ownership of the railroad spur line enables him to deal ruthlessly with the local ranchers. Rex and the other ranchers are elated when Brock agrees to pay fair-market price for the cattle until they learn the exorbitant loading fees he charges will eat up their profits. The only alternative is to drive the herd to the main line railroad at Big Bow, but to do so means Brock will crack down on them for the $10,000 feed bill they owe his company. Rex starts to Tulsa to borrow the needed money, after ending a move by Hank, the lone dissenter among the ranchers and actually in league with the Stevens crowd. Brock sends his foreman, Webb, to stop Rex and his sidekick Jigg and when this fails, Brock contacts his father, Charles Stevens in Tulsa. When the elder Stevens learns that Rex is appealing to Kate Carney, owner of a rival packing company, he sets a plan in action to undermine Rex’s appeal for a loan.
I stopped in at Market on Broadway last Saturday morning and picked up another delicious watermelon from Birch Creek Farms out of Wapanuka, Oklahoma. It was sweet as sugar. I know watermelon season is almost over in this area, so probably won’t be able to buy any from them soon.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BirchCreekWatermelon081812.jpg
One thing I noticed when I got out of the car at Market on Broadway was this strange kind of wind vane. Had about 6 turning points from one end to the other. Interesting.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/Windvane081812.jpg
I’ve noticed the past couple weeks a new business is a about to open up where the old Lone Grove Video Barn was located on the Highway 70. Its called New Orleans Seafood Market.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/LoneGroveVideo.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/NewOrleansSeafoodSign.jpg
I’ve been working a month off and on, building two brick columns at the entrance to our property. It was hard work in the 118 degree weather a couple weekend’s ago, and I didn’t know if I was going to have enough strength to make it back to the house, but somehow I did. Having laid bricks like this before, it turned out pretty good. Now to let them set up a week or so and then place the thick 24″x24″ concrete caps on top. Considering all the hard work it was, if anyone wants me to make them some columns like the one below, I’ll have to charge about $375 an hour. lol
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BrickColumn081912.jpg
Some of you who follow me on Facebook knows for that past 2 or 3 months I’ve been really concerned over my blood pressure. For many years its always been around 140/85. Then about 2 months ago it jumped up to 150 then about 3 weeks ago to 170. Way too high. So I remembered back in the late 1970s when Joe Pack and I owned a health food store at 12th and E Street NW in Ardmore. One of the things I’d read is how apple cider vinegar was good for BP. I went to Veggies Health Foods on 12th NW and bought a bottle of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar. Within 3 weeks it was back down to 145/85. Still kinda high but way better then 170 and more back down to my norm for years. The Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar is the only thing I can attribute the decrease too. I take 2 tablespoons in an 8 ounce glass of cold water, 3 times a day. I have noticed 2 or 3 other good changes since taking it, think I will continue!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BraggAppleCider082012a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BraggAppleCider082012b.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/VeggieHealthFood082012.jpg
From This and That newsletter archives of August 22, 1998:
A friend told me this week his hard drive crashed, and he lost everything. We all need to plan for that day. It will come. Make absolutely sure you can re-install if it should be lost and also backup your important documents and data. I received a little note this week that hits home. It is sung to the tune of “Yesterday” by the Beatles. It goes like this:
Yesterday, all those backups seemed a waste of pay,
Now my database has gone away,
Oh I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, there’s not half the files there used to be,
And there’s a deadline hanging over me,
The system crashed so suddenly.
I did something wrong,
What it was, I couldn’t say,
Now my data’s gone away,
And I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay
Yesterday, the need for backups seemed so far away,
Thought my data was here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.
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“just got back from two weeks at Yellowstone. While there awaiting Old Faithful to erupt, a couple came up to us…. The guy’s wife had on a T-shirt that showed the outline of Oklahoma and the Gene Autry celebration….”
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I love to test different search engines. Thought of the saying “topping high cotton”. Only one search engine, Metacrawler, found those three words. And they were from the June 20th Issue of my This & That. For those wondering what is “topping high cotton”, it’s being able to pick those cotton balls from the top of the stalks, instead of having to stoop over all day, pulling them. So if your topping high cotton, you got it easy.
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Q. Who was the first Merchant in Oklahoma?
A. Pierre Chouteau, was a trader with the Osage Indians who lived around the Osage River in Missouri. Manuel Lisa, of St. Louis grabbed this market through a grant by the Spanish government. So Chouteau had Pawhuska named chief of about 3000 Osages and persuaded them to move to Oklahoma country around the junction of the Arkansas, Verdigris and Grand Rivers where in 1802 he established another trading post.
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area……
https://oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Check gas prices by town or zip code anywhere in U.S.
http://www.kmov.com/traffic/gas-buddy
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..“Butch, I was glad to see Jim Hefley’s memory of the barber shop in the old bank. I had not actually remembered that it was in a bank. Marshall Mitchell is my uncle. I remember as a little girl, my daddy would take me with him when he’d get a haircut. There was a shoe shine man in the shop who could pop a shine rag like nobody’s business!! I loved to hear that sound. I would watch him the whole time we were waiting in the shop. One time, Daddy let me wear my little cowboy boots to the shop and get them shined. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to get to sit up so high on the shoe shine chair. My feet didn’t touch the step, so he propped my foot on his knee while he shined my boots. I think the shoe shine man’s name was T.C. (or at least that’s what they called him.) Does anyone else remember his name? Thanks, Mr. Hefley, for sparking that memory!!” -Kerry
“Hi Butch, I enjoyed your comments and photos of the Chickasaw Cultural Center in the most recent T and T. Your readers might appreciate and heads up on finding the Cultural Center since it can be a bit tricky. On the west edge of Sulphur, turn south at the stop light and drive between McDonald’s and Walmart. The Cultural Center will be “down the road a ways” on the east (left) side. If visitors will walk down the sky-walk to overlook the authentic Chickasaw village and look to the eastern horizon, they will be able to see the Artesian Hotel in progress.” -Mary Lou
“Butch, my father Rev. Ralph Flye was the pastor that built that church your talked about in the news letter in NE Ardmore. He opened it as a mission for the Orthodox Baptist Church on Washington St. then. My Daddy built the church as he was a carpenter and at that time worked for Grant Owens to supplement his income to raise a family. When Daddy left there and moved to Hobbs, NM I don’t think they were able to keep the church open as a Baptist Mission very long. This brought back a lot of memories!” -Carol Black
“Butch, I just finished reading this week’s T&T. I appreciate the comments regarding my book, “My Father’s Branch,” from Kathi in Fayetteville, and L.J. Higdon. I also appreciate that you put in the link to the digital version of the book at Lulu.com. I would only add that the book is available in print, in case someone doesn’t yet do the digital thing. Thanks for the work you do to help us maintain this community of interest.” -Doyle Williams
“I enjoyed your report on the Ardmore barbershops. I was born and reared in Love County during the time that the flat-top haircuts were popular in the 1950s. We had three barbershops in Marietta but none could cut flat tops as well as the barber at the Tivoli Barbershop in Ardmore. Haircuts were 50 cents in Marietta; $1 at the Tivoli. When we gathered for school on Monday mornings in Marietta we had great status if we could say we had been to Ardmore over the weekend for a haircut….. such extravagance!!” -Tom McAnally
“Butch, I picked some green persimmons at my ranch today at Wildhorse Creek near Ratliff City and it looks like were in for a cold snowy filled winter as I got a spoon in the two seeds I cut into. According to folklore, you can predict the weather with a persimmon seed. Here’s how to do it:
Cut open a persimmon seed. (Find persimmon fruit in your supermarket. It should be locally-grown to reflect your weather.) Look at the shape of the kernel inside.
If the kernel is spoon-shaped, lots of heavy, wet snow will fall. Spoon = shovel
If it is fork-shaped, you can expect powdery, light snow and a mild winter.
If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect to be “cut” by icy, cutting winds.It’s best to use ripe seeds.” -Doug Williams
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/PersimmonSeed2012.jpg
“Friends, on Friday night, August 24, 2012, my Silver Lake Band and I will present a concert in Altus, OK. The name of the event is “Giddy-up Gala”, a BBQ and Music Party, preceding Friday night’s rodeo performance. The “Giddy-up Gala” will be held at the Jackson County Expo Center in Altus, Oklahoma next to the rodeo grounds. From Highway 62, exit on Todd Lane and go south to the Expo Center. BBQ will be served beginning at 5:30pm. The entertainment will also start at 5:30pm and conclude at 7:15. Also on the show with us will be an outstanding troupe of cloggers and the beautiful 17 year old Makayla Jo Baldaeras. You can purchase tickets at the door. The price is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. The rodeo takes place next door, and begins at 8pm. Hope you can join us.” -Les Gilliam, The Oklahoma Balladeer
“My mother was part Chickasaw on her mothers side. I swam many many times in the Vendome and skated at the nearby skating rink when I was growing up. We spent many happy times camping out in the Park.” -Carol Jean Carmon Cole, Hurst, TX
The Daily Ardmoreite
December 15, 1946
Kindness to Civil War Vet is Now Recalled
Back in 1915 when Mrs. Effie Wilkes was working as probation officer in this county she helped many old people, especially veterans, to get pensions and was aided in this by N. H. Nicholson, state pension inspector, now retired and living in Enid.
Mrs. Wilkes said Nicholson was of immeasurable assistance to her in getting pensions for needy old folks. She recalls one case in particular – her first. It was Drury J. Brewer, a Civil war veteran who later fought in the Indian war.
The county had been paying a man in the country to take care of Brewer at $5 a month, but the money ran out and there was no place for him to stay, so they put him in jail.
And that’s where Mrs. Wilkes found the old soldier, blind and penniless, on his 88th birthday.
Aroused at the injustice of such a thing, Mrs. Wilkes wasted no time in getting Brewer out of the jail and into comfortable quarters. But she didn’t stop at that. Acting on advice of Nicholson she presented Brewer’s case to the government and succeeded in getting his pension through. Brewer died at the Phipps home here and is buried at Rose Hill. Mrs. Wilkes was also responsible for a monument being erected to his memory.
The only member of the Phipps family now living in Ardmore is a daughter, Mrs. C. L. Dunning, 821 A Street Southeast.
The Wilson News
November 24, 1916
AN OFFICE BUILDING TO ADORN CORNER
Mobley-Woodworth’s Structure Will Be a Beauty Post Office and Bank Below
Wilson is soon to have another brick building which will give an added air of permanence to our principal business street. It is an encouraging sign when any town begins to turn from insubstantial frame buildings to permanent brick structures!
Frank Wescott has completed plans and specifications on a two-story brick office building for Mobley and Woodworth. The new structure will have a 50-foot front and a length of 80 feet and be located on the lot now occupied by the post office. The corner room will be occupied by the City National Bank and another portion by the post office and a store. On the second floor there will be 22 office rooms. The new building will be modern in every respect and the cost will be in the neighborhood of $12,000.
Not the least of the advantages to the people of this town will be the improved post office quarters and facilities offered by the new brick, and everyone who has daily to stand in line while waiting for the mail will hail the coming of this new building with delight. Come to Wilson!
The WWII books are at the museum and selling like hotcakes, better get yours soon!!
Visit us online at http://www.wilsonhistoricalmuseum.org or at the museum. Wilson Historical Museum Hours: Tues., Thurs., Fri., Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
I don’t care how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides. -Dr Phil
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
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Ardmore High School Criterions Online
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Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
https://oklahomahistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
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Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
https://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
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