PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: [email protected], Phone: 580-490-6823
Last Saturday, February 24th, the winds around Oklahoma were gusting up to 60 miles an hour. In Ardmore the winds gusted to 65 and did damage a lot of roof shingles. Even with the high winds Jill and I decided to take a road trip east that day. Our first stop was Madill (some call it Mudhill) where we made the circle around the town square and Marshall county courthouse. After spending a little while at Madill, we traveled on south 10 miles to Kingston (still in Marshall county) and stopped in at D’s Creative Corner. Its located in the southwest corner at the only traffic light in Kingston. The owners, Bob and Delores Pitt have quite a place packed with all kinds of interesting items and knic nacks. This is a pic of the front entrance, the building was the old First National Bank of Kingston before statehood.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DsCreativeCorner7a.jpg
This is a closeup of the front entrance with old First National Bank tiles in the floor.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DsCreativeCorner7b.jpg
One old relic inside Bob and Delores’ store was an old safe that originally was across the street north in another old bank building. Bob was telling me much of this history from his recollections of talking to a Kingston resident some years before she died at 91 years old. But Bob Pitt is quite the historian himself, so I know if I want to find out any history of bygone days about Kingston, I’ll give Bob a call.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DsCreativeCornerSafe.jpg
This is a scan of their business card, lists some of the neat things to be found inside.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DsCreativeCorner7BusinessCard.jpg
And this is a flyer they hand out, lists much more detail of items they sell.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DsCreativeCorner7Flyer.jpg
While in Kingston we saw the parking lot was full at the Burger Shoppe (it was around noon). So I was hamburger hungry and we went in to order. It was not a mistake. At $2.29 its one of the best tasting hamburgers in southern Oklahoma! First, this is a picture I took of the outside of the Burger Shoppe. Outside View And the inside has a nice atmosphere, we loved the dark gray natural stone walls. Inside View Of course best of all was the delicious home made style hamburger. Burger Shoppe Burger So when your in Kingston, Oklahoma and see their only traffic signal in front of you, you know your just a few feet away from a great tasting burger!
Last week a Reader wrote in asking who was the lady who ran the elevator at the Ardmoreite building for so many years. I received a couple of great emails filling us in on the details (see Mailbag below). Her name was Eunavay Hopson. The following is her obit:
The Daily Ardmoreite, May 20, 1991
Graveside services for Eunavay B. Hopson, 80, will be at 10:30am at Rose Hill Cemetery with Father Ernest A. Flusche officiating. Born to Clarence and Eva Odom Farros Nov. 20, 1910 in Stephens county, Mrs. Hopson died Friday following an extended illness. She married Bill L. Hopson feb 23, 1933 at Clemscott and was an elevator operator at the Gilbert/Ardmoreite building before she retired. She was proceeded in death by her husband, Dec 2, 1989 and a son, Clarence Elmer Strange. She is survived by a daughter, Lyn Hosch, Ardmore, and a grandson. Craddock Funeral Home will direct services.
This is a pic of the First National Bank of Hastings, Oklahoma. Hastings is 10 miles NW of Waurika (Jefferson county).
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/HastingsOKbank.jpg
This is a picture postcard of Horse Shoe Curve from the very early days. The curve is located just south of Turner Falls entrance in the Arbuckle Mts.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/HorseShoeCurve.jpg
I received a powerpoint file called RoadTrains from a Reader in Australia. The presentation is all about the big trucks and there are lots of photos. You will need to have MS PowerPoint on your computer to view it. If you dont, you can go to Microsoft.com and download the powerpoint view. Just do a search on that website to find it. Its free.
“Hi Butch, I thought that maybe some of your truck fan Readers might be interested in this slide show, keep This and That going, I enjoy reading each week.” -Rob from Australia Down Under
The pps file RoadTrains is nearly 3 megs in size, so give it time to download. And just click on your screen to go from one picture to another.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/RoadTrains.pps
In December 1999 a Reader wrote in about a train wreck near Wapanuka, Oklahoma when all the Texas Schlitz beer was scattered all over the tracks. Everyone said the accident happened in the Fall of 1961. Back then in 1999 a resident of the Wapanuka, OK area who has been gone for 30 years (now in Oregon) (but today living part time in Tishomingo) had a photo of that infamous train wreck. Here it is, a one and only photo! A glimpse into the past!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/WapanukaTrainWreck.jpg
The movie file link below is quite an eye opener. Really makes a person wonder where all this high tech world we’re in is going to end up in a few years. China will soon become the number 1 English speaking country in the world. By the time you listen to this short presentation, 244 babies will have been born in China and 351 in India and 60 in the U.S.
http://www.scottmcleod.org/didyouknow.wmv
From The Daily Ardmoreite Feb 1960 – Mrs Bud Ballew was the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Harper of Lone Grove. The family migrated from Hardy, TX to Lone Grove. The former Mrs Bud Ballew is now Mrs. John Tidmore, wife of Dr John Tidmore, of Wilson Oklahoma. She tells a story that when Bud Ballew was in the hospital and Homer Britton was conductor on the Ringling Railroad, the train would pass near her back door. Britton would give her information every day about Bud Ballew’s condition.
So you are on a LAN network and wondering if your computer is safe from prying eyes?
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_keep_myself_safe_from_others_on_my_lan.html
If anyone has a hard drive laying around they’re not using, I’d like to borrow about a 20 gig or bigger. I want to clone my old drive to another drive, fdisk and format my drive, then clone it back. The reason being is my old drive has a 2nd partition I want to get rid of so it will be one big drive. Send me an email if you have an extra hard drive you’ll loan.
MAILBAG“Well Mr. Bridges, before anything else, let me tell you that since you got married to Jill you are a different man, I can tell that you are really in love and seem very happy and are enjoying life much more. The reason I am writing to you now is for something that I know is not easy to find out but there is always a chance it can be done, and I think you are the best person to ask. I am looking for a movie that was made in 1951 when The Ardmore Indians were in The Sooner State League, I am almost sure of that, but I don’t know where to look. If that movie exist I would like to have a copy. You see Mr. Bridges I would love for my children and grandchildren to see me playing baseball. Give my regards to Jill.” –Ernie in NJ [email protected]
“Since Ravia has been mentioned several times, I must relate some of my family’s history there. My parents, Charles Merrill and Flora Maberry met and married there and I believe that they said Dr. Caperton delivered my two oldest brothers. They always spoke fondly of the Caperton family. My uncles John and Arthur Maberry were also agents for the Frisco railroad and worked at many depots in the area including Ravia. They remembered young Gene Autry who was learning telegraphy but more interested in plucking his guitar and singing than his railroad job.” -R.F. Helms
“Re: the elevator operator in the Daily Ardmoreite building: She was my first introduction to Ardmore! I don’t know how to spell her name, but it was pronounced You-nuh Vay. I came to Ardmore in July 1979 to interview for the news director job at KVSO. I walked into the small lobby of the Daily Ardmoreite building, and over to the elevator, pushed the button, and stepped into a time warp! I hadn’t seen an elevator operator since the early 1960s in downtown Tulsa. And, she was just as Mike described, a vision of 1940. She was always nice and talkative (full of good gossip!), and knew how to make that dadgum elevator stop evenly with the floor. They were installing the “new” automatic elevator in 1980, about the time I left for Channel 12. I always wondered what happened to her.
Another quick story about the elevator in the Ardmoreite building. I would get to work about 6 am, which meant no elevator operator, unless Pelly, the building caretaker, was awake. Pelly lived in the basement of the building. If Pelly wasn’t up yet, then I would have to operate it myself. Early one morning I ran down to the basement to the get the elevator (better to go down one flight, grab the ‘vator, than walk up 5 flights). I saw big red drops on the floor, leading to Pelly’s room. I just knew he was badly hurt, or dead! Too scared to check on him myself, I jumped in the elevator and headed up to the station to make Pat Ownbey go down and check on him. Pat was on-air then, but thanks to my hysteria he left the control room and went to check on Pelly. Turned out Pelly had broken a jar of beets. Beet juice, not blood. That’s what I saw.” -Kathy Conry
“Butch, the lady who ran the elevator at the Gilbert Building/Ardmoreite Bldg. for so many years was Eunavay Hopson. She died several years ago. Her whole family is gone now. She, her husband, son and daughter. You may remember her daughter, Lynndean (Lynn) as she ran around with the Lamb?s daughter who lived next door to you. My memory is going and I can?t remember her name at this time. Eunavay was operating the elevator when I first met her in 1942 and she was still there when I left Ardmore. She never wore anything but black skirts and white blouses. She had nothing else in her closet but black skirts and white blouses. (Lots of them) She would wear a short coat but would never button it. Her family lived in our rent house behind our house for many years. She walked nearly everywhere she went. She seldom went anywhere except to work. In her later years, she learned to drive and drove many years without a license. There were several others who worked there through the years but she is the one who was there the longest. Orville Jones? last wife worked there for many years also. I can?t remember her first name but her last name was Baucom at one time. Her daughter was Ruth Williams who was married to Jack Williams, half brother to Hardy Murphy. Well, that is my little bit for this time. Loved the beautiful pictures of the Sulphur icicles and the beautiful trees covered in ice. Snow in IL was beautiful, too, but not if you lived there and had to shovel it.” -Frances Dunlap
“What a nifty website this is! I just discovered it and really enjoy the site. Do you, or any of your Readers, recall a film being shot in Pittsburg or nearby counties during the 40?s or 50?s? It was about a railroad being built, I think, maybe the Rock Island or Santa Fe line. I had family in Tishomingo and Mannsville (even lived briefly in Mannsville as a child) and family all over Pittsburg County. My dad was born in Madill. It?s so good to know the good parts and people of OK are still there!” [email protected]
“There are also Bill’s Fish Houses in Tuttle, Lone Grove and Stillwater. Sadly, the one at Norman closed a few months ago. I believe the one in Waurika is the original.” -Wes Leatherock
“Glad Jill had a safe trip, I can still taste those apple dumplings that Ardmore’s Chuck Wagon bbq use to serve. I have not found another one that taste like those anywhere. The bbq was good. Thanks for This & that.”
“Enjoyed this scene today at the Chickasaw Park at Sulphur. Can you just close your eyes and imagine hundreds of thousands of these magnificent animals roaming freely till the white man slaughtered them just for fur? What a shame.” -Doug https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/SulphurBuffalo7a.jpg
“The Osage Monster hamburger is a great place to eat a burger. It sits out on a little two-lane highway north of Hominy a few miles. The hamburger was good, but too much to eat. The same is true for the Meers burger. We drove from Tulsa to Meers for one of these, but couldn’t finish it. The article mentions Coleman’s hamburgers in Okmulgee. This was, by far, the best hamburger we ever found. They closed a few years ago when Sonic bought their property and made them sign a contract not to open another burger stand for 5 years. Well, the five years is up and Coleman’s is now serving burgers again a few hours a day in a new location. Right now I think they are only open for the weekday lunch crowd. I haven’t been lucky enough to catch them open, but can’t wait to have another of their burgers, some of their homemade onion rings and to wash it all down with a slice of their homemade pie. I’m not sure about their prices now, but when they were in their old location a cheeseburger was $1.65.” -Gerald Whitworth, Glenpool, Oklahoma
“What an nifty website this is! I just discovered it and really enjoy the site. Do you, or any of your Readers, recall a film being shot in Pittsburg or nearby counties during the 40?s or 50?s? It was about a railroad being built, I think, maybe the Rock Island or Santa Fe line. I had family in Tishomingo and Mannsville (even lived briefly in Mannsville as a child) and family all over Pittsburg County. My dad was born in Madill. It?s so good to know the good parts and people of OK are still there!” Sande Harsey [email protected]
“Great web site! Researching the family history of Robert Roebuck who came from England to Maryland in 1674 and settled in Northumberland County, Virginia!” [email protected] http://www.robertroebuckancestry.com/
“Great site; nice picture of Turner Falls. It is really special to me because my Mother and Aunt to my Grandfather, Robert Lee Tidwell to see my Mom?s brother in Midwest City after he had surgery. On the way home they stopped at Turner Falls for a sandwich. They ate their sandwich and was getting back in the car, when my Grandfather sat down in the car, he fell back and died from a stroke. I was so upset that my Mom was alone with my Aunt when it happened. But my Mom said, I should not be sad, he did not suffer, he died in a beutiful spot and he would have been glad that he was not in a hospital. So when I go by Turner Falls, it always has a special spot in my heart. Thanks for the picture and the website.” -Shirley in Henrietta, Texas [email protected]
“I really enjoy your Oklahoma History material. I was born at Mountain Home, Oklahoma. I moved to Healdton when I was in the third grade and graduated from Healdton high school and then went to college at Durant. My brother Harry Mullins still lives in Healdton. I live in Midlothian, Texas. Keep up the great work.” -Ronnie Mullins [email protected]
Q: Butch, When I was a very little fellow my father would visit a Mr. Dalton who owned a drugstore in Ardmore. To the best of my recollection it would have been roughly north of the old Miller Dairy Queen just northeast of the Methodist church in Ardmore. I was told he was a cousin of the not so honorable Daltons. I am sure that the old drugstore is gone and Mr. Dalton is long deceased. Have you by chance ever heard of Mr. Dalton? -Mike P. West
A: I knew Mr. Dalton and it is true that he claimed to be related to the infamous Dalton group. However Mr. Dalton did not own the “Drugstore” and in fact it was not a Drugstore at all but was a Sundry store that had a fountain and was stocked with drugs of sundry nature. The building is still standing but I don’t know what business presently occupies the building. My Dad, J.E. Martin – owner of the Martin Drug Store on the corner of Caddo & Main streets was the sole owner of the sundry store and Mr. Dalton was in charge of the business. It was located on the NW corner of D & 2nd Ave. N.W. My Dad had an idea that someday he might relocate his Drugstore on Main street because the east downtown area was gradually beginning to fade away. It was shortly after WWII that the sundry store was opened -but it suddenly closed in 1949 when my brother was shot and killed while in the process of closing the store for the day. -Ernest Martin
Also my father remembers the time that Harvey Bailey was captured in Ardmore after he escaped from the Ft. Worth, Texas jail. Dad told me of the machine guns mounted on top of the old Coke bottling plant where I think the new county jail stands today. -Mike WestAdded note: Yes, Harvey Bailey was captured Sept 5, 1933 in downtown Ardmore by the old high school. When he was brought out of City Hall the next day, there were two National Guardsmen mounted on top of the Coke Building (where the new jail is today). One of those 2 men on top of the building was my dad, R.V. Bridges. -Butch Bridges
“Butch, I have a humorous story. I saw a note in the T&T from Carol Jean Thomason that reminded me of the story. A former Teacher at Washington elementary in Ardmore, Barry Lawrance, asked me if I would play Santa Claus for the children there. Barry normally fulfilled this role, but he was sick. I decided to do the job. I had a great time with the kids and they went out of their way to let Santa know they had been good and kept telling me how much they loved me. I assured them that I loved them too. Outside in the hallway, I was approached by Carol Jean. She asked me, who are you under that mask? I told her Rome Ingle. She gave me a hug and thanked me for coming and sharing with the kids. She also told me she didn’t know that Barry had any wholesome friends. The next day Carol Jean’s husband was having lunch with her in the school lunchroom. A little girl came up to her husband and said, you were Santa Claus yesterday! He assured her that he was not. The little girl said, “Oh, yes you were, I saw Miss Thomason hugging you in the hall!” Now that one took some explaining!” -Rome Ingle, Tulsa [email protected]
Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash 1956
I hear that train a-commin’, it’s rollin’ around the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a-rollin’ on down to San Antone
When I was just a baby, my mama told me, son
Always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin’, I hang my head and cry
I bet there’s rich folks eatin’ in a fancy dining car
They’re probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
But I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free
But those people keep a-movin’ and that’s what tortures me
Well if that freed me from this prison
and that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443https://oklahomahistory.net
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American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
https://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
https://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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