The Daily Ardmoreite January 1, 1928
Pecan Trees Planted On Courthouse Lawn
Two pecan trees have been set out in the courthouse lawn by O. K. Darden, county commissioner. The trees are of the famous Mahan variety.
When Darden attended the National Pecan Growers convention at Shreveport in the fall the Mahan growers said they would present him with a couple of trees and he told them that he would plant them on the courthouse lawn.
The granite marker below is at the west side of the courthouse to honor O. K. Darden and his efforts in introducing and promoting pecan tree growth in this county.
From my November 20, 1999 newsletter:
Two days ago, Thursday, the wind really got up here in Ardmore. We have 12 pecan trees around the courthouse. The past couple of weeks, the pecans haven’t been falling all that much. But when that wind hit (up to 30 mph) they really started falling. Thursday around noon I bet there were at least 12 people gathering the pecans. James Lindsey (in maintenance) and I have been gathering them nearly every morning too. We have nearly a box full now at the county commissioners office for visitors who stop by. So come on by and have a pecan on us.
On the west side of the courthouse (front entrance) there is a granite stone on the ground by the sidewalk. It reads: “O.K. Darden, Pioneer in Pecan Improvement”. O.K. Darden was one of the first county commissioner here from 1907 – 1912 and a promoter of pecans as a good cash crop for the area. By looking at all the pecan trees in this county, it looks like his endeavor paid off. The best tree is on the northwest side of the courthouse. Most of the trees are what I call ‘papershell native pecans”. Pecans anyone?
Below are two photos taken in the late 1960s of constructiion of the Lake of the Arbuckles near Sulphur, Oklahoma
During the early 1950s, a drought seriously depleted then-existing water supplies for the cities and towns in the Arbuckle area. Bureau of Reclamation representatives began meeting in 1956 with local officials about the feasibility of an Arbuckle water project. The proposed project was supported by the Oklahoma Congressional delegation. The Bureau prepared a preliminary development plan in 1961. Public Law 87-594, approved August 24, 1962 (76 Stat. 395) authorized the Arbuckle Project. The final development plan was completed in 1964. A contract to construct Arbuckle Dam was awarded June 9, 1964, and completed June 30, 1966. The project also incorporated certain other infrastructure. These included an aqueduct and pumping system to supply water to area customers, The contract for this construction was awarded August 27, 1965, and the work was completed in 1968. The Bureau turned over the operation and maintenance responsibilities to the Arbuckle Master Conservancy District on January 1, 1968.
-from Wikipedia website
Robert G. Raines, proprietor 212 West Main. Residence 1219 Bixby Southwest.
HAM Talk KC5JVT via Echolink
Last Sunday evening several HAMs held the first Net like we did in the old days when I first started as a HAM (1994). Since it was the first NET held in a long, lomg time, only 8 of us HAMs were present last Sunday evening. But we look forward to seeing the numbers grow each succeeding Sunday night. Start time is 8:00pm.
Below is a message from Russell Keeton who has been the main force in restarting our HAM NET here.
“Please join us Sunday nights at 8 pm (Central Time) for the 146.970 repeater net. This net is not affiliated with any club or organization. It is very relax and does not follow any format. The operator calling the net will simply ask for check ins. Anyone that can hit the repeater is welcome to check in. The goal of the net is to prompt HAM radio and encourage everyone to use the repeater as much as they want. Thank you,
Russell Keeton WD5HCK in Ardmore, OK“
BTW, In searching for HAMs in Ardmore area there are a LOT, some have passed away (silent key), for some there HAM license has expired, but many I know are still licensed but just not active any more on HAM radio. If you are one of those that is not active because you have no HAM radio anymore but still your license is current, here’s something to think about and not spend a ton of money. You can get a state-of-the-art Baofeng HAM handheld radio for $20 bucks now on Amazon. That’s $10 cheaper than what I paid for mine last summer. So, don’t let no equipment (but still licensed) keep you from HAMing. ’73’s and get back on the air!
Oh, there are more HAMs using Boafeng radios in the world than all other brands of HAM radios combined. Amazing how things have changed over the years.
The Mailbag
I sure hated to hear that the tire plant in Ardmore will be closing. That’s going to impact a lot of people. I helped build that plant from day one to the final sweep out just before they finished the test runs and started to manufacture the tires. It was a Union Job built by union members to very strict federal government standards because I think the federal government loaned the money to build it. My father Karl M. Paul was a member of the Iron Workers Union, Local 536 out of Wichita Falls, TX. and helped hang all the Red Iron Framework. (He also worked on the old Texas Stadium located in Irving, Texas, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX.). Just a few days into hanging the Red Iron, starting at the North end of the building where the offices and other facilities was to be located, there came a horrific storm, and it blew down all the iron framework and it had to be redone. Later on, while unloading a truck load of Iron there was a bad accident a man was killed by the iron falling off the truck and crushing him. The pump house for the fire suppression system on the west side of the building had to be torn down brick by brick using pneumatic chisels and rebuilt because it settled and cracked. I watched all the Millwrights set the boiler, all of them huge tire presses or molds; the Pipefitters install the fire sprinkler system. The Elections hang the miles and miles of electrical conduit. I watched the Gandydancer’s build the railroad siding for the tire plant. It was built by Rusk Construction Co. and as most of you know it was built as a Uniroyal Tire Plant. -Larry Paul
Dear Butch: Here are a few facts that just came to my mind, you will have to forgive me that I did not tell you sooner but that was over 50 years ago.
FYI. It was about that same time that the railroads were making the transition from 40-foot boxcars to 60-foot boxcars. Hundreds and hundreds of them 40-foot boxcars (many of them were Santa Fe) were shipped to a wrecking yard between Venis and Midlothian, Texas where they met their fate to the cutting torch. The scrap was then sent to a nearby rebar factory, Chaparral Steel in Midlothian. That rebar was shipped to Ardmore and was used in the concrete for the tire plant. The concrete came from Joe Brown Company there in Ardmore. Joe Brown got his cement from TXI (formerly Texas Industries) in Midlothian, Texas. Midlothian was the prime area for cement quarrying due to the Austin Chalk Escarpment, a unique geological formation that runs north–south through the city. Just a few facts that nobody really cares about. -Larry Paul
Q. What was the other name when Black Saddle restaurant was owned by someone else beside Dr Patzkowsky? It was Black Saddle in the early 1960s. -Butch
How you like that water tower in the background and the phone booth? McKerson’s BBQ on East Main had a pay phone inside his business. When you called to place an order, the pay phone rang. Lt McKerson always called me Carmon (never Bridges) as I was raised with my grandparents.
A After it was Black Saddle, it was owned and operated by John and Linda Dodd, and the name was Crossroads Restaurant. It’s just north of the skating rink. It was on North Commerce, (Hwy 77) north of Hwy 142. On the west side. North of the skating rink. The restaurant was a part of a motel. -Trish Brown
A. Dr Pat & Dr Geron Meeks owned the Restaurant and the motel !!! All the Detail Men for the Drug Companies would stay there because Dr Meeks would ask to see their room key & if it wasn’t his motel, he would NOT see them at his office !!! Little known fact but the Detail men all mentioned it !!! -Mark Eck
The picture last week of the Dow Braziel and Billy the Kid (front row lower right) is not possible. William (Billy the Kid) Bonney was killed in 1881 while Dow Braziel was born in 1881. -Mike
Hi Butch, I always enjoy your historical newletters. Last week you showed the big bell at Cross Point Methodist camp near Kingston. Below is a photograph of the cross taken in the 1960s at the camp. I believe my grandfather A. J. Sutherland funded and erected the cross in the 1960s (or possibly 1950s). When boating in the 1960s from his Texhoma cabin, he would often point to it with pride as a leading member of the Healdton United Methodist Church congregation. -Cody
Below is a link to the Cross Point camp bell.
https://oklahomahistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/campbel2.jpg
Below is from my Vol 4 Issue 186
November 4, 2000 newsletter:
I received a rather interesting email this week from Mark Lynn Anderson, Ph.D.Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Department of English and Comparative Literature, Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Rochester, New York. He has been doing an intensive study on a former Ardmoreite, Clara Smith Harmon. Some of you will recall Clara Smith Harmon was involved in the mysterious death of Ardmore millionaire oilman Jake Harmon back in 1920. Mr Anderson said a movie was made in 1921 about the supposedly murder of Jake Hamon, and Clara Smith Hamon starred in that movie named “Fate”. He is looking for a copy of that 1921 movie Fate. Anyone have any ideas on where such a movie might be found? I for one, sure would like to see that movie.
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/561870/fate/#overview
“This picture was taken in the 1940’s of the bronze colored Indian statue which was a trademark for the Palacine Oil Co of Ardmore. (Wirt Franklin was the owner I believe). The site is at the look out of Turner Falls from the Filling Station located in the Arbuckle Mountains. The bronze colored Indians were seen in many places in our area but it seems they have all disappeared.” -Ernest Martin
“Dear Pat, Thank you for your kind words but I am sorry to say that I have been unsuccessful in the search through my files to find a picture of the Big Gulf station (Central Park Gulf Station). I believe the station may have been within the complex of the “Adams” building (I don’t know what Adams) The station always seemed to be a virtual hub of activity and I traded there many times. Although it was almost directly across the street from the Ardmore Hotel and was just a little west of the old bus station I find it difficult to understand why I have not seen a photograph of it. Somehow in the back of my mind I seems to remember that Wirt Franklin had one of his giant bronze Indian statutes mounted on the parkway in that building a long time ago. I will have to do some research to be sure but it seems that his Palesine(sp) Oil Co.used the Indian as a trade logo. Perhaps his office was located in that building – I don’t know. Somewhere in my pictures I have a picture of one of those bronze Indian statues, and if I can find it, I will scan it and send it to you. In the mean time let me prevail on Butch to make a request from his readers to see if they have a picture. I’ll let you know.” -Ernest Martin
“Oh, I believe there are Angels Among Us,
Sent down to us from some where up above,
They come to you and me in our darkest hours,
To show us how to live,
To teach us how to give,
To guide us with a light of love.”
Performed by Alabama
Written By Becky Hobbs (born and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma)
See everyone next Thursday!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, OK
580-490-6823
