Updated: 9/01/26Online: 8/30/26 Q. “Do I have to go to the Oklahoma Treasurers Office in OKC?”A. No. You can do it all online at their website.https://yourmoney.ok.gov 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…

Before serving two terms as mayor in OKC, Robert Hefner (1907-1987) was an attorney, an oilman, a mayor of Ardmore (1920-1927), and a judge on the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Lake Hefner in OKC is named after Robert A. Hefner, who served as the mayor of Oklahoma City from 1939 to 1947. This week the Brandt…

Image: Aahmes Grotto Band, c. 1922Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society Aahmes Grotto of the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm was established at Ardmore in January of 1922 and its charter granted that June. It is unclear when Aahmes Grotto ceased to exist at Ardmore, as the national organization has no…

Lester Gonzalez is a city story all in his own right. He has been with the Ardmore water department 27 years, has never had a day of sick leave, and has had one vacation. Now superintendent of the water department at 50, he says he has no thoughts of doing anything else except to continue…

Gene Autry, Oklahoma— located in Carter County just 16 miles northeast of Ardmore—has one of the most distinctive naming histories of any town in the American Southwest. Originating as a small settlement in the Chickasaw Nation, the community changed its identity multiple times before taking the name of Hollywood’s premier “Singing Cowboy.” Settlement as Lou…

Ratliff City, OklahomaRatliff City is a small town in northwestern Carter County, Oklahoma, situated at the junction of State Highways 7 and 76. Its history is tied directly to the mid-20th-century oil industry in southern Oklahoma. The town emerged as a community settlement serving local workers, oilfield crews, and passing travelers. It was named after…

Marietta, OklahomaBefore Oklahoma statehood, the area around present-day Marietta was part of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. The fertile bottomlands along the Red River attracted early cattle ranchers and farmers. William “Bill” Washington established the largest cattle ranch in Pickens County, making the region a major livestock center. In late 1887, Bill’s brother,…

Last Saturday my table saw tried to whoop me. Got the end of my right thumb. Kind of below my thumbnail so I probably won’t lose it. I think I’ve been in hospital ERs between 12,000 and 15,000 times all over Oklahoma and Texas but never as a patient, only with patients from my 18…

Springer, Oklahoma is a small incorporated town in northern Carter County, Oklahoma, located about 15 miles north of Ardmore (the county seat) along U.S. Highway 77, near Interstate 35 and the southern edge of the Arbuckle Mountains. Founding and Early HistoryThe area was originally part of Pickens County in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. A…

Charlie Dry was a test pilot for NASA in Houston Texas. I remember one time him telling me he could fly anything with wings. After we had been friends for a few years, he told me he was moving back to Tishomingo. After years of fighting traffic 2 hours to get to work and 2…