A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
From The Daily Ardmoreite
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Thursday, December 26, 1935
FLAMES SWEEP LONE GROVE BUSINESS AREA
FIRE WIPES OUT THREE BUILDINGS
General Store, Drugstore, Filling Stations
and Physician's Office Destroyed
ARDMORE FIRE FIGHTERS AID
County Commissioner Says Ardmore Firemen
Saved Buildings
Fire, originating in Coffey and Richards'
store and filling station, destroyed a drug store and a doctor's office early
Tuesday at Lone Grove at a loss estimated at between $15,000 and $20,000. Work
of Ardmore firemen prevented the blaze from spreading to other business houses
and residences on the main street. The loss was partially covered by insurance.
The fire, discovered at 1:30am by A.M.
Stringer, county commissioner who lives nearby, was well under way. Before he
could reach the scene, Dr. G.W. Hathaway's office next door was ablaze. The
doctor's office joined the Heflin & Doss drugstore and filling station, operated
by Mr. and Mrs. O.K Darden. The Darden's residence at the rear and a garage were
destroyed. Darden also had a filling station in front of his drugstore.
Mr. and Mrs. Darden escaped barely in
time. A new automobile, driven less then 100 miles was burned. E.W. Coffey and
Roy Richards operated a large general store and filling station. Stringer said
the blaze apparently originated near the back of the store. Stringer's store and
filling station east of the Coffey & Richards' business were saved. Ardmore sent
its chemical truck to aid in saving other buildings.
In Dr. Hathaway's office were several
hundred dollars' worth of instruments, it was said. Telephone and light service
was interrupted for a time. Both telephone and light wires spanned the burning
building.
Ardmore Department Helps
"All that prevented other business houses
from burning was the splendid work done by the Ardmore fire department",
Stringer said. "Lack of wind also was a factor".
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On Monday March 23rd demolition crews
were at work tearing down the old Highrise (Chickasaw Towers) in down town
Ardmore.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/Highrise032015a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/Highrise032015b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/Highrise032015c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/Highrise032315.jpg
On Monday March 23, 2015 a new tag
agency opened up in Lone Grove. It is located behind the
Boomerang Restaurant. Phone is 580.657.TAGS (8247).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/LoneGroveTagAgency.jpg
The warmer weather has me outside
sandblasting a few pavers.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/CurtisBerryPaverBSA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/KylanSpencerPaverBSA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/MichaelCoulterPaverBSA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/CarterCastellowPaverBSA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/JakobiJohnsonPaverBSA.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/JimFordPaver.jpg
Broke my diet Last Saturday and
bought a hamburger at Fatbelly Diner in Lone Grove. Boy was it good. First
burger I've had this year. It was delicious, just like homemade.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/FatbellyBurger032115.jpg
Speaking of dieting, I'm still doing
great on my TruVision Health lose weight plan. I lost 10 lbs. over about 60 days
but now I'm stuck at 177 lbs. the past couple weeks. Since I've met over
100 TruVision friends at the mailbox in the Walmart parking, that
mailbox
is becoming famous. If anyone wants to try it
give me a holler. "I'll meet you at the mailbox." lol As of today I've had 10
people join my TruVision family under me as an Associate or Preferred Customer,
so we are growing like a weed. Check
it all out at the link below.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
http://butch.truvisionhealth.com/
Q. What is the official state
amphibian of Oklahoma?
A. Bullfrog
Q. What is the official state
monument of Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That
newsletter archives of March 27, 1999:
A 50 year old view of Oklahoma City looking
north from Broadway and Grand Ave.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/OklahomaCityDowntown.jpg
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"Otasco (yes, it was an Oklahoma company,
although I believe it was headquartered in Tulsa) was a vast operation in
multiple stores in many states, and carried hardware, sporting goods and
appliances in addition to tires and auto service. It was perhaps not quite as
common as Wal-Mart is today, but pretty close in the states it operated in."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/OtascoGreaseCan.jpg
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"The Townley Dairy was sold, I believe to
Farm Fresh, and no longer operates under that name. But the active Townley now
owns the Lifetime Fence Company in Oklahoma City; and the endorsement on my
check paying for fencing was "Townley Dairy Company d/b/a Lifetime Fence
Company."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/TownleyDairyBottle.jpg
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"You mentioned something about Karen
Silkwood's daughter's car wreck in Ardmore. You mentioned that it was in '1975 I
believe. Unless she had two cars that she wrecked, I think this date is wrong. I
think the date was somewhere in '86 or '87. It was a red Trans Am GTO....I can
understand how a young girl could total the car in the distance she did (left a
stop sign and hit a tree on the other side of the intersection). That car had
just way too much power for someone with inexperience."
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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.....
Even though Route 66 was one of the first national highways,
national highway did not mean uniform standards through the 8 states it crosses.
For years there were stretches of Route 66 that were dirt roads. Local people
were responsible for building the section that passed through their county--they
actually provided the labor. I've seen some great pictures of farm boys and old
men building Route 66. I've read in several sources that Ottawa County had
enough money to either cover this distance with a single lane or build two lanes
until the money ran out halfway there. We complain about our roads now, but
this is the way it all started less than a hundred years ago." -Susan Yates
"I found your newsletter about Ketchum Bluff. Ironically, my
family, or at least part of them, lived there in 1893 and 1894 when they moved
from TN to OK. Here's what a cousin sent me:
Fannie wrote about the Estes family living conditions at the time that Lula was
born. She said that they lived in an old log house at the end of Ketchum Bluff,
this is the area where the road going south from Oscar, Oklahoma makes a turn
along a high rock formation an goes to where, at a later time, there was a toll
bridge built going into Texas.
I'm writing a story about this family that will be on my blog
at www.dna-explained.com as one of my
ancestor stories." -Roberta Estes
Butch, Not sure if this is helpful to you at all, but this is
from Gib and he says there was also a ferry at Red River crossing too. See
below.
Gib wrote: "Montague County, Texas and Jefferson
County, Oklahoma, just across Red River, are home to many families who moved
here from Claiborne, Hancock, and Hawkins Counties of Eastern Tennessee. My GG
Grandfather, John Y. Estes came to Belcherville, 5 miles west of Nocona, after
the Civil War. He died in 1895 and is buried in the Boren Cemetery. My Great
Grandfather, John R. Estes came here in 1891 and wound up with some farm land on
the Indian Nation side of the Red River just across from Red River Station where
the Chisholm trail crossed the river. The Estes family are all buried at Terral,
Oklahoma.
My Cantrell ancestors moved their cattle, during a drought,
in the 1870's from Young County, Texas to an area in Oklahoma called Tishomingo,
where there was grass and water available, and crossed the river at Red River
Crossing. My Great Grandfather, W. R. Cantrell, said that "Old Good Eye Knight"
operated a ferry at Red River Crossing. My Grandparents, Floyd and Fannie Estes
Cantrell, farmed and ranched in Jefferson County directly across the river from
Nocona. After World War Two, they moved in to Nocona, where they lived the
remainder of their lives. I was born at Ryan, Oklahoma and my Sister, Carol was
born at Nocona. My Aunt Edith worked at Nocona Leather Goods, where they made
baseball gloves, western belts and billfolds. My Aunt Imogene, married a Benton,
he was one wild SOB, part Indian. The museum that is discussed here was built
and is very nice. George Boggs and I visited it a couple of years ago. The Dairy
Queen is all that they say in this article. My Grandmother loved hamburgers and
I would buy them for her at the Dairy Queen. After my Aunt Edith's funeral, I
bought lunch for all the extended family at Fenolio's place. Excellent bar-b-que
and hamburgers. Bobbi Estes, from Michigan, and I were on a visit to the Boren
cemetery and we went to the Dairy Queen and she ordered a Latte and they fixed
it for her." -Gib
http://dna-explained.com/2015/03/23/john-y-estes-1818-1895-civil-war-soldier-walked-to-texas-twice-52-ancestors-64/
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/KetchumBluffAerial8b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/KetchumBluffMap.jpg
"Butch- Having grown up in Ardmore, I like to pull my fishing
rig to Lake Murray, which is still the prettiest lake in Oklahoma. Question- do
you know if the boat ramps are usable at this time? Many of our lakes are so low
the ramps are out of the water." -KeithAnswers
from my Facebook:
"North ramp might be useable. I know that Martin's Landing
ramp was repaired and the water is already below the repair. If you do make it
into the water use caution. There are sand bars everywhere." -Cheri West Jones
"The Marina Is the only one that is open and safe as far as I
know. A few weeks ago someone pulled a boat out of Elephant Rock boat ramp and
dug up a lot of dirt and mud, its probably not a good idea there." -Tony Martin
"Butch, attached is a flier for Oklahoma's First Annual Law
Ride. Motorcycle riders from across Oklahoma will meet at one of four
locations on Saturday, May 16th and ride as a group to the Oklahoma Law
Enforcement Memorial where there will be a short ceremony at 4 PM. One of the
four gathering places is Longhorn Scooters, 3312 Prairie Valley Road in Ardmore.
Riders and other participants need to register the morning of the ride between
10 and 11:30 AM. Riders will depart from there at noon for Oklahoma City. All
proceeds from the ride will go toward the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial
Building Fund.The memorial plaza is in need of repair
and renovation after 45 years of honoring the service of all of Oklahoma's law
enforcement officers and the sacrifice made by those who died in that service.
Renovations will include expansion of the plaza to include the
six, soon to be seven granite tablets that have been added since the memorial
was dedicated May 15, 1969.
Find more information on the memorial and the over 850 law
enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty in Oklahoma, both before
and after statehood, at our web site
www.oklemem.com
If anyone is not able to take part in the Law Ride they may
make a tax deductible donations by check, or by Paypal or credit card through
our web site." -Dennis Lippe
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15a/MemorialLawRide2015.jpg
A fool and his money are soon parted.
The rest of us wait for tax time.
See everyone next
week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
