A History of Cooper Farms – Ardmore Oklahoma 1920s — Automotive & Transit Beginnings: Before becoming a dairy patriarch, Tom Cooper (along with his brother Fleet Cooper) was a prominent early automobile dealer in downtown Ardmore. Operating out of the Tom & Fleet Cooper Auto Garage (located at 401–403 West Main Street), Cooper was also…

We’ve lived here 2 miles south of Lone Grove for 19 years and just learned this week there is a new wildlife rescue center just 1 mile south of us on Meridian Road. Its called the Southern OK Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation. They perform rescues, rehabilitates, and safely releases native Oklahoma wildlife—such as orphaned…

Above is the worlds first spherical oil field storage tank. It was built of steel by the Magnolia Oil Company in 1925 in Davenport, Oklahoma, and located 1 mile north of town on S. 3503rd Road and Old Route 66 (GPS: 35.725199, -96.762395). Built in 1925 by the Magnolia Oil Company during the Davenport oil…

Below is an awesome picture postcard of a Kansas, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railway (KOG) freight train crossing the tracks of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad (MKT) at the switching tower in Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma, Choctaw Nation. Photo taken in 1948 by Preston George and made available by the Oklahoma Historical Society at the…

From my August 2012 newsletter“Butch, in your “This n That” Doug Williams mentions a cement post on the corner of MLK and K St. NE. At the east end of the block there used to be a Seven Day Adventist school years ago. All that was left was the posts that were used for a…

Bill Lauderdale was a longtime broadcaster, newsman, and sports announcer at KVSO radio in Ardmore in the late 1940s through late 1950s. Particularly interesting for Ardmore history, KVSO-TV Channel 12 went on the air in August 1956. The station was affiliated with NBC, with ABC as a secondary network. Its management listing specifically identifies Bill…

The Chuck Wagon BBQ was located at Ardmore’s Highway 199 (old Highway 70 1984) and P Street Northeast back during the 1970s and 1980s.The restaurant was owned and managed by Doris Jean Bailey (1927-2013). Besides BBQ they were famous for their apple dumplings. A Reader sent in what is reportedly the recipe Jean Bailey used…

Back around 1960 several of us neighborhood kids spent Saturday night at the Jamie & Juanita Young Ranch north of Dickson (Highway53 & 177). There were about 10 of us kids and one chaperone, (Virgil Edwin Gaines). I was the only one without a cot to sleep on that night. I slept on the ground…

During the 1930s severe drought plagued the states in the Great Plains and deepened the Depression. High winds caused dust storms which blackened the sky. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt initiated a program to help stabilize the blowing soil and put people to work. His prairie states forestry project envisioned planting wide belts of trees…

Updated: 9/18/26Online: 8/30/26 Q. “What do I need to do?”A. Go to the State Treasurers office website below and search for your name. Most times just the last NAME and Town (without zipcode) is sufficienthttps://yourmoney.ok.gov/ Q. “Do I have to go to the Oklahoma Treasurers Office in OKC?”A. No. You can do it all online…