Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: [email protected], Phone: 580-490-6823
A Glimpse Into The Past
William Moses Kirkpatrick
Carter County Commissioner
A well-known pioneer family in the Fox-Graham area was the William Moses Kirkpatricks 1862-1938, who settled there in 1903 with their four sons and three daughters.
Four of their great-grandchildren are now enrolled in
the school their great-grandfather helped organize, Fox Consolidated. A grandson, William Raymond Kirkpatrick, teaches vocational agriculture at Fox, and daughter, Eula Lee Kirkpatrick, taught there for several years before moving to Oklahoma City.
The elder Kirkpatrick took on active part in community life. He was responsible for improved roads and bridges while serving as a county commissioner (1907-1908), he gave the principal address at the dedication of the present Carter County courthouse and his bass voice was familiar of community picnics and singings.
During his tenure as a Justice of the Peace, Mr. Kirkpatrick got out of bed in the middle of the night many times to perform a marriage or attend to some other official duty. -Carter County History book – 1957
William Moses Kirkpatrick 1862-1938
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59166155/william-moses-kirkpatrick
As some of you know, I spent the first 21 years of my life at 3rd & H Street NE in Ardmore. I thought I knew my neighborhood pretty good. My grandparents lumber yard is shown, its gone, but the house I lived in is still there in the aerial photo. But this week I learned something new a block away at 4th & I Street NE dating back way before statehood. Keep in mind that Ardmore did not start west of the railroad tracks, but east in the NE part of town. I have outlined in RED the area I’m talking about in the picture below.
This is the email I received this week that brought this community water well to light.
“Al Sadler’s family, Floyd & Mable Sadler, purchased land by a creek in the southeast corner of 4th & I NE in Ardmore (330 I Street NE). After Al and I married (when you used to keep baby Lisa now an RN in OKC) they heard the town water hole was right there, somewhere covered up. It had been used for original town people there to collect water & use for fires, by then in 1960 it was forgotten! Al witched for the water well and he found it. So the family used it many years! I noticed on the deed when we sold it that it had mineral rights and was listed as “Indian Territory” and first on list of owners was Al’s family!” -Marion Sadler
Aerial of 4th and I Street NE, Ardmore
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos20a/4thAndIstreetNEardmore.jpg
March 1952
Southern Oklahoma cities received the news of a proposed turnpike toll road with mixed emotions. The proposal would call for an 8-lane north-south toll road to be built with bonds similar to which is being used currently to build the Oklahoma City to Tulsa toll road. The road would bypass Ardmore about four miles to the west and extend from Texas to the Kansas state line.
March 1952
A heifer calf without a tail was born on the Henry Hudson dairy farm north of Lone Grove. The calf is The offspring of a red poll cow and registered Hereford bull. “Now I have a calf without a flyswatter and summer coming on said,” Hudson. Hudson is president of the Carter County Farm Bureau and said, “we had a hard time getting a heifer count and couldn’t even get the tail that goes with it.”
March 1927
The jury will decide upon the fate of Bill Hartsfield, who is charged with the murder in connection with the killing of Jim Dunn in October, was selected this morning at the opening of the trial. Hartsfield is said to have struck Dunn with a large rock a few minutes after the two had a quarrel and fight.
March 1927
Typhoid clinics were established at Enterprise and Brown by the Carter County Health Department. An estimated 150 persons received the serum treatment. Before this week closes, clinics will also be held in Glenn, Newport and Prairie Valley.
Allen, Oklahoma is in the northeastern corner of Pontotoc County, 19 miles northeast of Ada. Post Office was established April 9, 1892. It was named for Allen McCall, son of a deputy United States marshal.
Q. Where is the oldest town in Oklahoma?
A. Fort Gibson was established in 1824 as a military town and is considered the oldest community in Oklahoma.
Q. Where in Oklahoma is the best Go Kart track in the Midwest?
A. Answer in next week’s newsletter
Here’s a grave marker I made this week. I never did one with a football. Turned out beautiful.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/JohnsonGraveMarker.jpg
Below is from This and That newsletter archives of June 19, 2008
Jill and I stopped in at the new Buddy’s Drive-In for a burger last week. It is located just east of North Washington on Sam Noble Parkway. Even tho the meat could have been cooked just a tad more, it was a delicious burger. There was small pieces of onion mixed in with the meat, making it like a fried onion burger, but better. The owner Crystal is at the counter in the photo below.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BuddysInside061508.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BuddysOutside061508.jpg
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https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BuddysBurgerPlace.jpg
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Ardmoreite Tonya Rangel gave me some old photos she found in a shoe box this week. In the box was a 1968 Graduation Program for Ardmore Junior High. I have scanned the four pages below. I recognize a lot of names!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/AJrHS1968a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/AJrHS1968b.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/AJrHS1968c.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/AJrHS1968d.jpg
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But the best pic of all was a post card of the Lake Murray Inn. By looking at the cars parked in front, I’d say around 1939 to 1941. The Inn was located about where the Lake Murray Lodge is now, so I would guess it predates the Lodge. What makes me smile is the sign on the building, “Honk for Service”. Now that IS a thing of the past. It is hard to find a single service station left in Carter county (maybe the whole U.S), only filling stations. There is only a handful of stations left in Ardmore where you can even still get air. Boy, times have changed.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/LakeMurrayInn8a.jpghttps://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/LakeMurrayInn8b.jpg
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“Butch I know I visit with you a few times a week but will answer the request about the 9 hole golf course at the Ardmore Airbase. I returned from a tour in Korea during the “Police Action” as the politicians called it in late 1953. My first assignment after a 30 day furlough was Ardmore, Airbase Ardmore, Oklahoma. My gosh I thought I had come to the end of the real world but soon got use to the Okie customs. Back to the golf course, it was located north and east of the main gate and went quite a distance east almost to the flight line. When we were assigned extra duty it would be to help tend to the course-water, rake sand traps, pick up cigarette butts and general care, it was a well kept course and I can remember those who played it said it was very good. I believe at the time I was there it was used by military personal only. The building that I worked in (communications) was at the far north end of the course and in it we had an old BC-610 transmitter and receivers which we maintained and serviced for those air force personal who used it, it was the local MARS station (Ham Radio).” -Richard “Rick” Feiler
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“Yes, I remember the air coolers you hung in your car windows, although the only places I ever saw them used were in the desert in California and Arizona. I think the water bags were simply for holding water, not additional cooling, although you typically saw them hanging from the front bumper of cars. They were burlap and leaked water so you couldn’t put them in the car.We crossed the desert every summer when I was growing up to visit my grandmother in Long Beach, CA and I always wanted to have one of those air coolers but my dad always said no. I remember them costing $14.95. You simply poured water in the pan and the fan on the front of the unit pushed the water cooled air into the car as you traveled.
Our car wasn’t air conditioned and we would dab Vaseline in our noses and roll the windows up almost closed to allow a little air into the car for ventilation. We also carried a small galvanized water can with a small block of ice in it along with as much water as it would hold. Ah, travel before AC, power steering and cruise control.” -Monroe Cameron
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————————————————————————-Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
Hotel Ardmore Coffee Shop menu October 30, 1936 – Robert Hensley
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Matchbook from Lake Village Camp east of Ardmore on Hwy 70 (now Highway 199). -Robert Hensleyhttps://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos20a/LakeVillageCampArdmoreOK1.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos20a/LakeVillageCampArdmoreOK1.jpg
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———————————————–“Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal. “ –Jerome Fleishman
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
“Friends Make Life Worth Living”