I received an email this week about a really old piece of Carter County history that I had almost forgot about. I learned about this piece of history from Woodford resident Jim Hill back in 2005 when he and I went to see it on private property in Woodford in northern Carter County.
"Hello, I was interested in visiting the stage coach station location that I saw in the photo you wrote about. Can you tell me exactly where it is located? Is it on public or private property? Has anyone taken action to preserve it at all??? Before it is gone forever I would like to visit that place! Please give me all info you can. Thank you so much!" - Howie from Tulsa
The stagecoach way-station was used as a resting place where travelers would find a place to spend the night, a warm fire, and something to eat when they were traveling by stagecoach from Texas to Ft Arbuckle and points north. Jim Hill thought the structure may date back to maybe 1870. Below is a picture I took in 2008.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/StagecoachTerminal5g.jpg
Since I have not visited the site where the structure stood in 8 years, I don't even know if it's still standing. Maybe someone in the Woodford area can give us an update. Here is a link I made to the location. Keep in mind if it's still there, it's on private property
Below is a map I marked with the location of the old Stagecoach way-station.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/StagecoachMap.jpg
Anyone know where a Buckeye tree might be growing in the Ardmore area? I heard there was one somewhere south of Lone Grove. Anyway, if you know of one, give me a shout.
I received another order this week of 50 TruVision 7-Day Trial Packs after my last 50 sold out in 4 days. If you're wanting to lose some weight and feel better too think about trying a 7 day pack as a test. I'm below 180 pounds now and a lot of my gut is now gone, and that is where I wanted to see it work the most, in the stomach. My energy level is way up too and desire to eat all the time is way down. I have plenty of Trial Packs ($20) now if anyone wants to give it a try, just give me a holler. Check it all out at the link below.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
http://butch.truvisionhealth.com/
If anyone has been saving my newsletters through the years I am looking for Issue 573 dated January 24, 2008. Somehow, when I don't know, #573 was overwritten with a partial #573. If someone has it, even a paper copy in a binder, let me know.
Q. What turnpike opened in 1948
and was the first in the state?
A. Turner Turnpike between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Oklahoma has more
turnpikes than any state in the nation.
http://www.okhighways.com/turnpikes.html
Q. The pressurized flight suit
was invented in Maysville, Oklahoma by this famous pilot.
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of February 6, 1999:
Last Saturday I made a mistake in my
paragraph on the Ardmore Club Lake. The Ardmore Club Lake where Foster Stoner
built the log cabin out of Bell Telephone poles, is located at the northwest
edge of Ardmore. The Chickasaw Lake Club is located in the northeast edge of
Ardmore (north of Noble Foundation). The interesting thing about the Chickasaw
Lake Club is that it burned a couple years ago and there is now a new club
there. The old club building is where parts of the 1973 movie Dillinger were filmed.
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"Hey Butch, Foster Stoner's cabin was not
at Chickasaw Lake Club. It was and still is at ARDMORE Club Lake.... Just
thought I'd let you know the facts." :)
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"Just been reading this and that and would
like to tell you about our church bells. We have a peal of 6 bells - which is
not a full peal but the church tower which is 800 years old is not strong enough
to carry the weight of a full 8 peal. There is a thriving team of campanologists
(bell-ringers) in the village and it is wonderful to hear them ring the changes
for half an hour on a Sunday Morning or for a wedding...." England
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"Hi Butch: I was standing on Ten Acre Rock
just a couple of hours ago. It has to have been a sacred place sometime back and
it is sad to see the trashing and the spray paint graffiti which have occurred
since I was last there in July. This place is an Oklahoma treasure and ought to
be protected somehow. It is a place which inspires and it is hard to understand
why for some it only seems a good place to be destructive. From the amount of
broken glass and beer cans, it is obviously operating as an "open bar". Too bad
the property cannot come under the protection of an agency such as the Nature
Conservancy. It is so sad that such beautiful places are more frequently the
targets of disrespect and eventually destruction. We live in one of the most
beautiful regions of the country and maybe each of us needs to actively advocate
for appreciation of that fact. Thanks Butch, for the picture."
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/66740732
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One reader sent in the directions to Ten Acre
Rock north of Ravia, OK: "In Ravia, turn North into Hwy #1 and proceed to Troy.
On the Right corner of Ten Acre Rock Road, which is now unidentifiable by street
name sign, there stands an old weathered gas station with a dilapidated red in
roof. Turn right and proceed down the road about 2 miles and watch on your right
for a puling parking area. You will find this area at about what is the rock's
mid-section. Park in there. It's a straight-up climb to the top of the rock so
wear shoes with some grip."
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And in very far northeastern
Oklahoma is Picher, Oklahoma. In fact, on the map Picher looks about 50 feet
from the Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas borders. This is an old 1944 photograph
of Flem's Cafe in Picher. Picher is a ghost town today, the most toxic place in
the America.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/PicherOKcafe1944.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV0EKE9nGgA
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This week a reader sent an email that instills
a spirit of patriotism and touched me more than usual. It is an email that I
want to pass along to everyone right now.... and not below in The Mailbag. It
truly makes me want to travel to Philadelphia and touch that bell. Here is that
moving message:
"Butch, I was reading the latest T&T and got to thinking about last March when I went to a death penalty seminar in Philadelphia. Although the time schedule didn't leave any time for sightseeing, being a lawyer I was darned sure not going to leave Philly without visiting the Independence Hall area! If the birthplace of the Constitution isn't sacred ground to a lawyer, then truly, nothing is sacred to anyone.
"I was with another attorney friend that I used to work with who had just moved to Chicago. We walked into the building and there were only a couple of other people there; they were on their way out. Terri and I walked up and were looking at the bell and the Park Service guard read our minds and said, "It's okay. You can touch it." Of course, we did.
"Butch, it felt ALIVE. My fingers seemed to vibrate even after I pulled them away. Terri felt it too. We both must have been standing there looking flabbergasted when the guard said, "Yeah, it does the same thing to me when I touch it." It was simply incredible. I could still feel it in my fingers a half-hour later.
The government is planning on remounting the bell on a pedestal that will be to high to touch. If you can get to Philly before they do, I recommend that you do to. I'd like to know if it does everybody that way.
A few minutes later I managed to work my
arm through the iron bars and touch Ben Franklin's gravestone. In sort of a sad
commentary on modern life, a homeless man had set up housekeeping over a steam
grate not ten feet from where Franklin rests." -Randy Evers, Oklahoma City
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Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Maybe someone out there will be able to identify the individuals in this official US Army picture taken August 1, 1945 during the last open house event at Ardmore Army Air Field. The boys are looking at a mannequin dressed in a high altitude flying suit used by crew members. Two may be twins and perhaps all three from the same family? Thanks!" -Gary Simmons [email protected]http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/AAAFOpenH80145fz.jpg
"Butch, a friend of mine that has a small ranch near Sulphur, bordering the national park told me that the government pays for cedar tree removal/eradication. If I recall, it was the park department or maybe the agriculture department. I do not know how but, he was pretty impressed with the amount they paid him per tree. I was astounded when he told me how much water these trees use to sustain themselves. It was a LOT. I imagine you can learn what government agency to contact through the internet."
"In the mid 50's, several soft drink companies... Dr Pepper.. Canada dry.. Pepsi...experimented with cone shaped tops on their cans...forerunners of the "tab."
"Butch, I think the red cedar is actually a juniper, Juniperus virginiana, and is native to North America. If you visit the archaeological museum at Spiro Mounds the archaeologist there will tell you that pre-Columbian Native Americans at that site used them in home construction. I have heard it explained that frequent prairie fires used to keep their numbers in check." -Rex Morrell
"Butch, I found this in my stuff I've kept over the years. It's a blank check on "The Bank of Wilson," Wilson, Oklahoma.
Here's the story behind it:
Back in about 1971-72 I asked a friend, Mike Mettry, that lived in Wilson at the
time, to write down a few German phrases for me.
We both were attending OSU and I was dating a cute little girl of German decent
and wanted to impress her by speaking some
German. Mike was taking German language classes so he reached for a piece of
paper to write on. He wrote down some "romantic"
German phrases on the back of this blank Wilson Check and told me how to
pronounce them and what they meant.
Well, the sweet girl married me on Dec 1972.
42+ years later I still have the check and the the girl!
I did a Google search on "The Bank of Wilson" and came up with the following interesting facts;
Status: Inactive
Closing history: Absorption - Assisted
Acquiring Institution: American National Bank
Date Established: May 16, 1940
Last Structure Change Effective Date: July 26, 1990
Last Structure Change Process Date: August 01, 1990
Last Data Update: October 04, 1990
Location Address: 222 West Main Street, Wilson, Ok 73463
Total Assets: $13.0 mil
According to Google Earth it looks like it was located on the SW corner of West
Main and 6th street. There's a convenience store
located there now."
-C. Dwane Stevens
"Butch, a buddy of mine & I wrote a book on the Ayles prison. It was an all-black state prison. This book has pictures & names of the inmates. I sell it for $25.00 that includes S&H. THANKS." -Herman Kirkwood [email protected]
"Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday."
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Follow me on the TruVision lose weight program
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
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 schools, past and
present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County
Government Website
http://cartercountyOK.us/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my
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