As of last week the Ardmore's old Lincoln School at Stanley and F Street SW is no more. It has been removed. You can see the new Lincoln School behind where the old one stood in the picture below.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/LincolnSchoolRemoved.jpg
Back before statehood Ardmore High School was just west of the Lincoln School in the NE corner of Stanley and G Southwest. Stanley street was originally laid in red brick when the street was called 2nd Street SW in the 20s. Stanley Street was name after Ardmore police judge (1917) H.A. (Henry Austin) Stanley and his wife Lela who taught at Lincoln Elementary. They lived at 1023 Stanley where Lela also conducted high quality private school at one time. The next two pictures show the red bricks from early day Ardmore.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/StanleySW080806.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/StanleySW080806a.jpg
And this a photo of the old Ardmore High School in 1918 at Stanley and G SW.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/ArdmoreHighSchool_1918.jpg
Healdton, Oklahoma street scene
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/HealdtonStreetscene.jpg
A few pavers I sandblasted the past past week.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/JesusLovesYouPaver.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/WillardFancesPaver.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/KeithAndMiloPavers.jpg
You can find current gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Been hotter than Hades out and you know what that means, A/C running and higher electric bills. 60% or more of your electric bill can be attributed to the air conditioner running day and night to keep your house cool. I installed a Okie Power Saver last Saturday and the before and after readings where amazing. A 33% drop in amps drawn.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/OkieSaver062516.jpg
Q. Where is the oldest state
park in Oklahoma?
A. Turner Falls south of Davis, Oklahoma
Q. The movie Twister was filmed
in what Oklahoma town?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of June 2, 2000:
"I just read your letter in T&T about the
ice plants in Ardmore. The one that I remember was on D Street Northwest just
north of Broadway. This is now the entrance to the First National Bank Drive-in.
The building set real close to the street, there was enough room to parallel
park a car in front of the dock. I can remember the men working there bringing
out blocks of ice and putting them in a crusher. A large paper bag was used to
catch the crushed ice as it came out of the crusher. This is the only other ice
plant that I can remember."
----------------------------------------------------
"My friend, Lovina gave me this newspaper
(Daily Oklahoman, Sunday, 12 June 1949) that was in an old wooden crate she had
bought at a garage sale. On page 15-A of the 1949 paper dated 12th June was an
article titled...
Ardmore Woman's Son To Lecture at Harvard
Ardmore, June 11 (1949) -- (Special) -- H.
A. Gibbons, son of Mr. & Mrs. L. C. Gibbons, Ardmore, has been selected to
lecture on world trade and economics during a 14-week course this summer at
Harvard University. Gibbons has charge of the Netherlands East Indies area for
Standard Vacuum of New York, with headquarters in Palembang, Sumatra. He will
visit his mother here before taking up this work at Harvard. He will remain in
this country until December."
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, for years what was left of the
electra was at the salvage yard on the east side of town, I think it was OK iron
and metal or something like that, I was working for Jerry Kingery at the
downtown airport around 1970 and I remember seeing the hunk of wreckage sitting
at the back of the yard every time I was out there.
----------------------------------------------------
Over 300 people attended the American
Flyers Memorial Dedication Saturday June 17, 2002. The rain held off until the
very last minute before the program ended. Many who attended came by and told me
how much they appreciated everything that had been done. There were several
family members of Flight 280/D in attendance. They stated how proud they were of
the memorial and after 34 years, it brought some kind of closure. I remember the
father of one of the victims saying how those who died in Vietnam were inscribed
on a Wall in DC. But these 76 young men never made it to Vietnam. He felt relief
after all these years, knowing his son and the others are now on a memorial. His
son was Leo R. Burnett. This is a photo of his father who attended the ceremony,
Leo Burnett, of Freeport, TX. The man in Army fatigues is Luis F.Vazquez,
brother of Jose Vazquez from Puerto Rico who died in the 1966 aircrash.
----------------------------------------------------
Back in the 60s my great grandmother, Ida
Miller, made lye soap every Fall. She had a fire under this big iron pot and put
Red Devil Lye in the mixture to make the soap. She used the store bought lye.
But many old timers had to make their own lye using wood ash. Basically its the
solution that is left after letting water seep slowly through a big container of
wood ash.
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----------------------------------------------------
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
The Dougherty, Oklahoma, Homecoming and School Reunion will be held Saturday, July 2, 2016 at the Dougherty School. Visitation will begin at 5:30. Alumni membership fee and meal is $15.00. Guest meal is $10.00. We welcome Dougherty graduates, former students and teachers, former residents, anyone who has attended church in Dougherty, and friends."I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of Abram Cook of Lone Grove? He was a Justice Of The Peace in early 1900's or something." -Roy
I read with real interest the memories of some of the Old Grocery Stores in Ardmore in last week's issues of This & That and they brought back great memories of 'Tales' my Mom use to tell about her childhood in Ardmore from 1900 - 1922. In 1900 Thomas & Olivia Morrison Griffin & their 2 children moved from McMillan Indian Territory, where she & her brother were born, to Ardmore IT. They rented in 1900 but by 1910 they owned a grocery store, what I presume was named "Griffin's Grocery" where Olivia & her 2 children operated a small grocery & Thomas farmed.
According to a letter that Roxie Olivia Griffin Adair wrote that I found after she died, she said:
"My parents moved to Ardmore OK while it was still Indian Territory and
"homesteaded land". Later Mama bought other land adjoining her property. My
parents had a neighborhood grocery store. Mama still ran the store after my Papa
died in 1910. I know now that my working in the store all my life was the
foundation for my future life. I learned to meet the public at an early age.
Mama had heart trouble and I had to stop school, to take care of her and to mind
the store . . . . that's what she always said . . . . "Roxie you mind the Store
till I get back" . . . . anyway in 1922 Olivia was told she had to move to a
much warmer climate for her health. The Ringling Railroad Co. bought land from
Mama to build a round house and 'Y' to use as a Switching Yard. I use to go by
passenger train to Lone Grove, Wilson and Ringling where I had friends I could
visit. I also went by train to Wilson OK. to visit 'Cousin Jeff' Griffin,
'Cousin Alice' Griffin and Ben Coe. 'Cousin Jeff' gave me a gold piece on a
small gold chain that I've kept all of my life."
An old Ardmore school chum of Mom's (Mae Cox) later came to Texas for a visit &
told Mom that their old home & Grocery Store site is where Ardmore Mall is now
located. Sadly, I looked through everything she left me and could never find an
old picture of their Grocery Store. My Grandmother Olivia died at the age of 87
& apparently she out lived her doctor by many years. Roxie Olivia Griffin Adair
died at the ripe old age of 96. My family visited one of Mom's childhood
friends, Mae (Dr. James Lloyd Cox & his wife, Mae Morse Cox) in Ardmore, the
summer of 1935, & I fondly remember all of us sitting on Dr. & Mrs. Cox's front
porch one warm dark night while we listened on the radio to the first Joe Louis
Prize Fight that Joe won & how excited we all were.
Over the years, I had always wondered how Thomas Griffin was able to buy land in Indian Territory so early. Mom never mentioned that but I've searched for an answer and found several but don't know if there are more details to either one that I should know:
No. 1:
1902
For the first time, individual ownership of land is possible in I.T. Prior to
this, all land was communally owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Contrary to popular
belief, there was never a ?land run? in this part of Oklahoma.
No.2:
There was some land left over that was not allotted and the various tribes were
allowed to sell them. The tribes also held title to the town site lots and were
allowed to sell those also. That is probably why Thomas was able to obtain the
property, purchased from the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations. There is a very
complete description of this in Chapter 10, "Town sites and Leftovers" in Kent
Carter's book: "The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized
Tribes 1893-1914".
"The pool at 3rd & G NE opened in June 1955. I worked there in 1955 & 1956 before I joined the army. The head lifeguard that 1st year was a backstroker on the OU swim team. He had been on the South African Olympic Team. The other life guards as I remember were Don Awtrey, Cary Leverett, Robert Brown and Hardy Murphy, Jr. We also taught the Red Cross swimming lessons in the mornings." -Herb Linder
"Just wondering if there is anyone (other than me) who remembers the metal tube fire escapes at Washington Grade School. We kids in the summer used to see if we could climb up inside and reach the 3rd level before slipping down...and out. Lots of good clean fun!" -Don Bridges
Here are 3 more scans of old postcards. -Robert Hensley
Ardmore Main Street 1960
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreMainStreet1960.jpg
Whittington Hotel at Caddo and East Main, SW corner.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/WhittingtonHotelArdmore.jpg
Group photo of students at Selvidge Business College, 100 block of North Washington.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/SelvidgeBusinessCollegeStudents1910.jpg
It's so hot here in Southern Oklahoma the cows are giving evaporated milk.
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial
Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers
Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force
Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County
Government Website
http://cartercountyOK.us/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my
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