I hope everyone is enjoying the Reason for the Season. Here in Oklahoma its a beautiful day. Its hard to believe another year is almost gone. This newsletter will be a short version. And as I mentioned a couple times the past few weeks, starting in 2026 I may not publish a newsletter EVERY Thursday.…

Thanks to 11 friends who donated to increase the storage space on my oklahomahistory.net website, I’m now back to normal and uploading photos, newsletters, etc. No matter what happens to me, the 29 years of photos, newsletters, etc., will be online and and searchable until Feb 8, 2032. I want to keep it online as…

UPDATE: within 4 hours eleven friends donated to my gofundme webpage last week completing the $400 needed to increase the oklahomahistory.net storage space on the Server for photos, newsletters, etc., from 10 gigabytes to 20 gigabytes. That extra storage space will allow uploading pictures until 2032. A big thank you to those 11 who stepped…

This weeks newsletter is very limited. I tried to upload a couple of photos this week for todays newsletter to the Server and Hosting Service and it said I had reached my limit of media storage (10 gigabytes). I’ve talked to them 3 times and the only option they gave me is to buy more…

Below is a 1900 letter from my Great Uncle, Charles Carmon-Butch Bridges From the Gainesville Daily NewsGainesville, TexasSunday, July 22, 1900 Texans At Cape Nome Of 20,000 people there, 19,000 are prayingfor means to get back to the States. GOLD SAND ONLY IN SPOTS One man shovels up fortune and his neighbor starves to death…

Wapanucka Academy was a school for girls. Opened in 1852 by the Presbyterian Church. The name was derived from Wapanachki, a Delaware Indian word meaning “eastern land people.”  During it’s first years, it was known locally as Allen’s Academy after Captain J. S. Allen who headed the school’s construction in 1851-1852. The school was established…

So far today (10:00am), Thursday, we’ve had 1/2 inch of rain here in south central Oklahoma. it’s so badly needed too as we’ve not had any rain since before Halloween. More rain predicted, bring it on! Springer, Oklahoma Post Office – 1959 Simon Westheimer store in Marietta, Oklahoma 1905 Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG….…

Capitol Avenue in Tishomingo, Oklahoma many years ago. In the background is the Chickasaw Nation capitol. AI enhanced photo. Doug and Scheryl Williams have been manning the Gene Autry Museum lately. If you haven’t been there in a while, you are missing out on some great history. Also if you are a true lover of…

Below is a photo of the Marietta, Oklahoma switchboard back in the day. The old Ken Milburn Ford dealership at West Broadway and C Street. It would later become the Carter County Health Department before it moved east of the courthouse. Ardmore Ice Company of bygone days. I worked with Troy Loard of Lone Grove…

The picture above is Bill Short and his wife Norma, owners of the old Bill & Barbs Restaurant. The Barb on the sign is Bill’s sister Barbara Gay (1939-2025). It was established in 1955 and located at 1225 North Washington in Ardmore. Below is the long gone Chinaman’s Restaurant east of Marietta, Oklahoma next to…