This and That Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 25  Issue 1,268   Circulation 5,000      May 13, 2021
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My email address:  butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-490-6823

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us,
What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse."

-Jim Rohn

 

 

 

A Glimpse Into The Past

Once upon a time.... "there are indications that people lived in southern Oklahoma long before the white men came and even before the aboriginal Indian tribes appeared. There are even hints there may have been people around here in the days of the wooly mammoths, and migrations through this area when the Incas flourished in central America. An Oklahoma University geologist found a skeleton near Ardmore that was said to be 3,000 years old. The OU man was Albert Giles, and he made the discovery during a geology field trip along Hickory Creek in the edge of Criner Hills southwest of Ardmore. His discovery was hailed as a great find, indicating the scientists say, that this ancient person may have died in quicksand." - Recorded by Betty Carroll October 23, 1984

March 1983
The race has ended for proponents of parimutuel horse racing for Carter County. A heavy turnout of 12,605 voters found 52% voting against the measure, which effectively stops any efforts to build a racetrack locally.

March 1951
Dedication ceremonies for the new Milo Baptist Church will be held Sunday afternoon April 1, at 3 p.m.

March 1927
The new Mountain Highway to Davis via Turner Falls was opened to the public on Friday March 25th. All of the road, with the exception of a short detour near the prison camp, is graveled and is in excellent condition. The trip to Davis, now, shouldn't take more than half hour.

March 1927
A British automobile manufacturer has introduced a car with the rear seat facing backwards in hopes of solving the backseat driving problem. Windows are cut in the rear of the car to give a view of the passing landscape.

The Adelphos Theater was opened April 19, 1921. It was renamed the Ritz Theater in October 1927. The name was later changed to the Park Theater. Below is a 1956 photo of the Ritz at 117 W. Main St.

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21a/AdelphosParkRitzTheater1921.jpg

A grave marker I made the other day.

http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/SidneyHickmanGraveLegateCemetery.jpg

We continue making progress locating people or their kin with unclaimed property at the State Treasurers office in OKC. As of today we have reached area people about unclaimed property totaling over $854,713. And the search continues....

So with the above being said, how long has it been since you checked your name or a family member's name? Its easy to do a search at the Oklahoma State Treasurer link below. I think every state in the union has a unclaimed property website through the respective state treasures website.
https://apps.ok.gov/unclaimed/

Q.  Who is the richest person in Oklahoma?
A.   In Oklahoma, Oklahoma City is home to more billionaires than any other city in the state. A total of three billionaires live in Oklahoma City with a combined net worth of $23.2 billion. Of Oklahoma City residents with a minimum 10-figure net worth, Tom & Judy Love is the wealthiest, worth an estimated $8.2 billion.

Q.  An entire town and human existence once lived and thrived in a town that is now beneath a lake. Founded in 1901, the town at one time boasted a population between 300-400 people. The town is now covered in water. Where is this town?
A.  Answer in next week's newsletter

Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....

Hi Butch, I saw the photo of the dilapidated and deteriorating stagecoach recently on your website.

I thought you would like the rest of the story... Sometime in 1993, Clyde Walker got the idea to construct a 'stagecoach'. During the construction I went with him to Coleman, OK to get the wheels. There wasn't much Clyde couldn't accomplish with a hammer and saw.

The first photo is of the completed coach in 1994. Later that year he drove it in the Ardmore Shrine Rodeo Parade and I rode, 'shotgun' The following photos are from the parade; and in the one in front of the Ricoh Office Equipment store you can barely see his grandson, Shawn Walker sitting between us.

One other aside is that the two spotted ponies pulling the coach were a pair he bought at the Amish School Fundraiser at Calera, OK sometime previous. They were an absolute handful, and we had several near runaways.

It was always fun being with Clyde Walker, whatever the occasion. -Regards, Steve Douglas

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21a/ClydeWalkerCustomStagecoach1994.jpg

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21a/WalkerStageline01.jpg

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21a/Walker&Douglas1994ShrineRodeoParade.jpg
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Below is from This and That newsletter archives of May 14, 2009

The Broadway Service Station at West Broadway and Q SW had been getting a lot of double takes this week.  Parked in the front of the station is this most unusual "taxi cab".

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/TijuanaTaxi051309a.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/TijuanaTaxi051309b.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/TijuanaTaxi051309c.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/TijuanaTaxi051309d.jpg

The Lincoln Town Car is owned by The Cloverleaf at I-35 and Exit 31.

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/Cloverleaf051409.jpg
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 "Regarding the horse buried in front of the train near Hardy Murphy Coliseum in last weeks T&T. I have pictures of that. My husband, Everett Scott, buried that while my son Karry watched. I will try to bring the pictures by soon." -Mae Scott
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 "Butch, I ran across these photos of the old Sinclair Tank Farm located on the west side of Ardmore just west of the railroad tracks at West Broadway and Rockford. In fact if you look close at one of the photos you can see two engines in the background passing behind the tanks. The Ardmore switcher was going out to the Uniroyal/Michelin Tire Plant in that photo. Also notice the gas prices at the Texaco station in the cropped/close-up photo. Looks like 88 cents a gallon for regular unleaded and that was near the Interstate. Prices were probably lower than that on the opposite side of town. Photos were dated January 1999." -Dwane Stevens

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SinclairTankFarmArdmore1999a.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SinclairTankFarmArdmore1999b.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/SinclairTankFarmArdmore1999c.jpg
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 "Another great Oklahoma songwriter and entertainer, Billy Ross (Cushing, OK)."
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 The Daily Ardmoreite
Date: Sunday, July 8, 1928

Mrs. ELLEN GOLLEDGE, Pioneer Mother of Ardmore

Mrs. ELLEN GOLLEDGE, pioneer mother of Ardmore, died yesterday morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. E. ELLIS in Houston, Texas. Death resulted from an automobile accident in which both Mrs. Golledge and Mr. Ellis were injured. The body will be brought to Ardmore for burial. Mrs. MAE SCIVALLY of 823 D St. SW, who was with her mother, will accompany the body home, but Mrs. Ellis will be unable to attend due to her husband's serious condition. This was the fourth serious accident in which she had been hurt since she was 74 years old. She was in her 82nd year. Mrs. Golledge was the wife of the foreman of the Ardmoreite for
many years.

Her husband, J. W. GOLLEDGE, died several years ago and was buried from St. Phillip's Episcopal Church in which he was a member. He was of English birth and came to America in his early manhood, first helped with the Galveston Morning News then volunteered for the Confederate Army, later with the Hillsboro Mirror at Hillsboro, Texas... came to Ardmore and started the Ardmore Courier which was destroyed in the 1895 fire, then associated with the Ardmoreite.
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2nd Obituary
Date: Tuesday, July 10, 1928

Mrs. Ellen A. Golledge with photo From the Houston Post-Dispatch

Mrs. ELLEN A. GOLLEDGE, 83, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. E. ELLIS, 1421 Heights Blvd.

Her father, Capt. JAMES MONTGOMERY, was the skipper of a bayou sidewheeler... his vessel conveyed the first steam locomotive to Texas.

She was born at Galveston in 1846 and when two years old, her parents moved to Houston, a straggling town with few brick buildings and muddy streets.

She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. ELLIS and Mrs. MAE SCIVALLY of Ardmore; a sister Mrs. EMILY BERIETH of Houston; a brother JAMES MONTGOMERY; nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
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Mrs. M. Georgie (Porter) Sammons

Ardmoreite, Ardmore, Oklahoma
date: Wednesday, January 26, 1910

Mrs. C. A. SAMMONS

Mrs. C. A. SAMMONS died this afternoon. Mrs. Sammons had lived in this portion of Oklahoma for a number of years. Her father, Dr. PORTER, formerly lived at Overbrook and Mrs. Sammons has been known here since the first home was built in this city. She was taken ill several years ago and spent the last two years in Colorado, where her husband hoped the climate and treatment of specialists in Denver would restore her to health, but she gradually grew worse and few weeks ago, Mr. Sammons was advised by her physicians in Colorado that the climate there was too severe for her to pass through the winter. She suffered an attack of pneumonia.   Mrs. SAMMONS was a member of the Ladies of the Leaf.  She was the wife of CHARLES A. SAMMONS, the pioneer lumberman of this city. Funeral arrangements have not been made but the remains will be laid to rest in Rose Hill cemetery.
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 "Hey Cuz, Just thought I would let you know that the Hyundai Company is sending out a number of mechanics today from 1000 to 1400 to provide car care services to the occupants of our Apartment Complex and the one next to us as an American-Korean Friendship gesture prior to Mother's Day tomorrow. They will be providing a number of services for the cars here in the complex regardless of origin, make, year, or model."  -Poss in Korea
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 "Garth Hoard's mystery bird #3 in last weeks newsletter is an Inca Dove. They are considerably smaller than the white-wing variety. We see them here in South Texas from about April until October. It was strange to see the picture, because I noticed one hanging out under the birdfeeder as I was reading about other birds in last week's edition and wondered if these little guys made it as far north as Carter County. Question answered! By the way, they are very fond of black-oil sunflower seeds, as are the white-winged dove, cardinals and purple finches." -Chuck
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/MysteryBird3.jpg
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 "Latest update on my mystery birds here. I had a suspicion I had correctly ID'd that first one and it was confirmed today. The male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak made an appearance this afternoon. Here's a couple of snaps along with a group shot and another of an usual visitor."  -Garth Hoard, SE Lone Grove

Group (ccw from top):
Painted Bunting - female,
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak - male,
Blue Jay,
White Winged Dove
Cardinal - female

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/BirdsGroupShot.jpg
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 "Butch here is a picture of the Berwyn , Oklahoma band I don't know the year or if this was a town band or school band, any help from your readers would be helpful." -Doug Williams
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/BerwynBand.jpg
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"Believe you can and you're halfway there." -Theodore Roosevelt

See everyone next week!

Butch and Jill Bridges

"Friends Make Life Worth Living"
Ardmore, Oklahoma
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net

Oklahoma History Website #2 (backup website)
http://www.okiehistory.net/

Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
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
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
 http://cartercountyok.us

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