This and That Newsletter
Vol 12 Issue 622 Circulation 5,000 December 25, 2008
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616 (not a toll free number)
Christmas Day is coming to a close as I write this issue. Since everyone is all caught up in the holidays including us, this issue of T&T will be a short one. But we are looking forward to the new year and plenty of Oklahoma history to share each week in 2009. We appreciate everyone who has helped make the newsletters possible this year by contributing to the mailbag and articles. Jill and I hope this Christmas season has been a good one to all our Readers, we consider us on here one big family with a common connection, Oklahoma, whatever that thread may be.
A few weeks ago we pictured an old red brick tower that's still standing to the west of the Chickasaw Towers and G Street and posed the question as to what it was a part of in the past. Garth Hoard at Lone Grove has been looking over old maps and may have the answer. Garth thinks the structure was part of the old Scotta's Florist Shop, as you can see in the map, its further west than the old J.J. Cotton Gin. You can read more about the tower in the Mailbag below.
A month ago we mentioned the finding of two 1919 emblaming diplomas inscribed with the names Henry and Beulah Cathey, and our search to find kin so the diplomas could be returned to relatives. This week Cindy Cathey Waits of Texas came by and picked up the old diplomas. Thanks to many of you who provided clues to the whereabouts of Cathey's descendants, I was able to talk with several of them by phone. It was the consensus of those I talked to is that Cindy Cathey Waits should be the new caretaker of the diplomas. A thank you to all who helped find the diplomas their new home.
The Carter County Courthouse had experienced a different kind of Christmas entertainment Tuesday to the delight of everyone. The Southern Oklahoma Clicky Chicks perform their clogging routines to the sounds of Christmas music on the first floor rotunda. For about 30 minutes at noontime Sandy Lackey and her clogging group had everyone from all the floors and visitors alike in smiles!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ClickyChicks2008a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ClickyChicks2008b.jpg
We have been watching from our kitchen windows the beautiful red birds, blue birds and other birds coming to our bird feeder. Of course the pesky squirrels wanted their share of the food too, and would scamper up the 1 inch pipe with ease to eat. After some experimentation, I finally found a solution to the problem. I replaced the 1 inch pipe with a 6 ft PVC pipe, 4 inches diameter. With the larger pipe the squirrels are no longer able to wrap their paws around the pipe. So now the squirrels remain on the ground, eating the seeds the birds drop from the feeder above. I'll have a picture in next weeks T&T of the new improved anti-squirrel pole. Here is a pic I took of the birds the other day.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/SixBirds122108.jpg
Early last Sunday morning I think the temperature in Ardmore was around 19 degrees, bone chilling cold. When I stopped by Braum's Ice Cream store early that morning at 12th and I-35 (we were out of milk) I noticed a crane and crew at work on the Braum's sign. It was so cold, the wind straight out of the north, I know the worker on the lift must have been half frozen by the time he got through work done on the big sign.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BraumsLift122108.jpg
Ten cheapest places to buy gas in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
There are new postings. Check out the Oklahoma History Boards!
http://oklahomaroots.proboards83.com/
Q. Where did the Seminole people live before removal to OK?
A. FloridaQ. What/where is Oklahoma's state monument?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"These are pictures I took today on the porch. It is snowing like crazy here in Big Sky, MT but that doesn't stop the birds and animals from showing up. The bird is a male pine gross beak and, of course, the mammal is our version of squirrel. The squirrels up here are so small compared with every other squirrel I have seen." -Monroe Cameron in Montana m_o_cameron@yahoo.com
MERRY CHRISTMAS
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/MTsquirrel8a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/MTsquirrel8b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/PineGrossBeak8a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/PineGrossBeak8b.jpg
"I'm inquiring about the owner of the rental property area that used to be where the Carter County, Ardmore, Ok. jail house is now {100 S. Washington}. The address was 118 1/2 S. Washington in 1930 on the census of that year. maybe it would have been where Floyd Gaither had his shop. My Great-grandfather {R. J. Burns} was 75 years old, then and listed as living at that address on that Census. I'm also interested to see if the Blanch Rue is the Blanch of "GOLDEN GIRLS" on TV. The female was 14 living next door to my Grandfather - W. L. Burns on the 1930 OK Carter, Wilson Census. If anyone knows if this is the same Blanch, please let me know. Any help would appreciate." -Carol~OK~ carolbwatkins@yahoo.com
"Fascinating pics/maps of old Ardmore. Let me toss a couple of tidbits I've gleaned from comparing these with those 1940 aerial photos I passed along earlier.
See the attached 'inset1' for visuals.
By 1940:
(1) Lincoln School had assumed the familiar 'L' shape
that it remains to date.
(2) Methodist Church
(3) Ardmore Hotel (to become Lincoln Bank)
(4) Central Park
(5) St Agnes Academy is still on the W side of E st.From these same 1940 pics, the cotton gin is there but the stack is west of that at Scotta's Florist. See inset2 for visuals on this one. It looks better on the original hi-rez scans you've got copies of...these are highly compressed for dialup email.
Note that *all* the structures and trees have shadows stretching to the ENE (pics taken 4/14/40) and the stack's shadow is at the west end of the greenhouses. I'm guessing that it was for a boiler and winter heat for the plants. " -Garth Hoard, Lone Grovehttp://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/CFN-10-84_inset1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/CFN-10-84_inset2.jpg
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person. -Benjamin Franklin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSFk50qdYO4&NR=1
See everyone next year!
Butch and Jill Bridges
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
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 schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
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