PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402 Email: [email protected] Phone: 580-490-6823
Since gas is on the rise the past couple weeks, and predicted to hit $4 a gallon by summer, Jill and I decided to make a road trip last Monday while we can still afford it. We traveled to Ada, Oklahoma and saw some sights. The first thing one will notice is their downtown is like New York’s Grand Central Station. People coming and going everywhere, businesses busy, and parking hard to find on their 2-way streets. But none-the-less we had fun. I’ve always had a connection to Ada. When as a wee teen (and before) I’d walk from my great aunt Fannie Murphree Sanders Pritchard’s house at 625 West 6th in Ada to the McSwain Theater to watch a movie. I’ll never forget those days with the big Sunday dinner’s at her house with a spread fit for a king.
Of course one of the Must Do’s when in Ada is navigate the Ada Mix Master. Its always a test to see who goes when and where and who don’t. Jill just kinda cringed when I went through it. lol
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/adamixa.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/adamixb.jpg
Here is an aerial view of this crazy intersection.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/AdaOklahomaMixMasterAerial.jpg
And of course one can’t go to Ada with a stop at Rhyne’s Surplus. Its like a step back to the good old days (like Ardmore’s Stolfa’s Hardware). One unique product, actually 2 products, I noticed at the checkout stand in Rhyne’s Surplus was Grandma’s Lye Soap and Grandma’s Baking Soda Soap (made in Tulsa, at least that’s what the label reads).
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/GrandmasLyeSoapAdaOK.jpg
Grandma’s Lye Soap of Tulsa, Oklahoma
http://www.grandmaspureandnatural.com/
Rynes’s has a little bit of everything, so much packed into that building it takes a while to go through it. Here is a pic I snapped of the inside of Rhyne’s Surplus. This is just a small sampling of what awaits a visitor.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RhynesSurplusInside.jpg
And this is a picture of the outside. Established in 1938.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RhynesSurplusOutside.jpg
Another item we found and bought at Rhyne’s, a couple of Texsport insulated double-walled stainless steel mugs at $8.98 each. Jill had been looking for quality stainless steel mugs for several years, and these 14 oz ones at Rhyne’s fit the bill.
And let’s not forget the old petrified tree directly across the street north from Rhyne’s Surplus. Rumor has it cults held meetings there, made sacrifices and who knows what all. When we looked at it, I didn’t see or feel anything strange, but then we were there in broad daylight. lol
While in Ada last Monday, Jill and I found what may be the best hamburger in southern Oklahoma. Where? In Ada, Oklahoma right on Main Street. During July 2007 we stopped at the Folger’s Cafe on Ada’s Main Street and ate what was one of the worst hamburgers we ever had. Jill could not even finish her’s. But this week when we stopped in at Ada’s Hamburger King it was a different story. Here’s a pic of the outside.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/HamburgerKingOutside011612a.jpg
Here are a couple pics of the inside of Hamburger King on Main Street. We were there just after high noon, and it was packed.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/HamburgerKingInside011612a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/HamburgerKingInside011612b.jpg
And now what I know you have all been waiting for, that delicious burger! And don’t let the picture fool you, its a big burger, made like a real homemade hamburger, and an extra $1 brings you fresh made fries, not frozen, and the skin is left on the potato. Oh, and let’s not forget the ice in the drink, that crunchy ice like ice is suppose to be!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/HamburgerKingAdaOK011612a.jpg
And speaking on burgers, there’s more on the best burgers in New Mexico in the Mailbag below.
Below is a pic just like a sketch I own of the Doughtery Depot drawn by Dougherty artist Don Pinkston. Its signed by Don Pinkston himself dated 1978. I’ll let it do to the highest bidder. I will mail it in a tube. Email me a bid if your interested.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DoughertyDepotSketch1978.jpg
Here is a pic of the actual sketch I own. Has some damage near the bottom.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DoughertyDepotSketch1978a.jpg
Ardmore made #3 on a Yahoo list of least expensive places to live!
From This and That newsletter archives of January 16, 1999:
Several weeks ago, one reader asked if the mural was still on the side of the building at “B” and West Main here in Ardmore. The artist was Pete Foster, and one reader told me Pete travels all over the state placing his work of art on the side of buildings and walls.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/PeteFosterMural.jpg
“Most citizens of Oklahoma have some knowledge, or at least have heard, of the illustrious W.H. Murray a.k.a. Alfalfa Bill Murray. The things that come to mind by many Oklahomans is a recalling of some outlandish or gutsy something he performed when he was Governor of this great state. Most everyone will know that he was Governor of the State of Oklahoma but few will know that he was the 9th Governor, serving from Jan 1931 to Jan 1935. Many people will recall reading that he practically wrote the Constitution of Oklahoma when he served as President of the Constitutional Convention (the Con-Con) when the delegates were meeting to create the laws that would govern this Great State, all before the Territory was approved for Statehood and its ratification and approval by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. Many citizens wont know that he was Speaker of The State House of Representatives from 1907-1908. Later he was elected to, and served as a member of the 63rd & 64th United States Congress.” -Ernest Martin
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“…the James Cruce property joined the Mt. Washington (school) property on the south …This may be where the shed is located. Dorothy Cruce married A.W. DeMoss. He is dead and I don’t know her status. Could the grandaughter have been a DeMoss offspring? Cruces later owned and lived in the Cruce Apartments across from the Orthodox Baptist Church. Mr. Cruce had a dairy earlier on the Bridges property. Lee Cruce, James’ brother, was governor as you know.”
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“Really enjoy reading This & That. Especially when I read the note from the Oklahoma person now residing in Refugio, Texas. My Grandmother, Nancy Kelley Rea, married Judge Hugh Rea in Refugio, Texas, where he was a circuit judge. His portrait hangs in the Refugio county courthouse. My mother, Catherine Rea Conroy, and her five sisters lived and were married in Refugio…This & That confirms this is a small world!”
Q. Once the third largest city in Oklahoma, what community came into being in 1901 as a result of a giant lottery when over two million acres of Kiowa-Comanche-Apache land was opened to white settlement.
A. Lawton
Q. “Initial Point,” a stone marker from which all post-Civil War surveys of Oklahoma were made, is located a mile south of what old fortification near present-day Davis?
A. (answer in next week’s T&T)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area……
https://oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
Ardmore 01/16/12: South bound Heartland Flyer from OKC with Special Amtrak 40th Anniversary train, two power units on front and two on rear. M.P. 450.5, BNSF Redrock Sub. -Dwane Stevens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrCKNjhDYFU
Butch, Amtrak’s special 40th anniversary train passed through Ardmore from fort Worth today (01-13-2012) on it’s way to OKC. It will be on display Saturday and Sunday in OKC with “displays of photos, uniforms, china, and memorabilia from America?s Railroad, while also offering a glimpse into the future. I’ve attached a couple of photos of it passing through Ardmore.” -Dwane Stevens
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/Amtrak40th011312a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/Amtrak40th011312b.jpg
“Hi Butch, As usual, I enjoyed your stories, especially the one about Pop City. Did you know there was also a Beer City. It was just south of the Kansas line in Beaver County. The location is in the middle of a wheat field now.
http://www.opsu.edu/News/?page=Article&id=557
There was also a Trash Hill, just across the Red River, can’t recall on which road. I was on the Oklahoma Planning Commission and one of our projects was to go through all the names of objects and places in Oklahoma which were (or might become) objectionable so they could be changed. We got to over 200 such names before we were through. Don’t know what they did with the list, probably nothing which is the way most plans seem to go in Oklahoma. We were the planning commission but unfortunately they didn’t have a doing commission.” -Jim Foreman
Lewis County, Kentucky Obituaries
Margaret McCann
Margaret Presley McCann, 79, of Black Oak, Kentucky died Tuesday, November 19, 2002, at 2:40 p.m. at her home. Born September 1, 1923, in Tussy, Oklahoma, she was a daughter of the late Garret and Clara Rodgers Presley, and was the widow of Russell McCann who died in 1991. She was retired after more than 20 years with US Shoe and was a member of Reynolds Chapel United Methodist Church in Black Oak. Services were conducted at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22, at Gaydos Funeral Home in Vanceburg. Rev. Paul Pepoon officiated with burial in Muses Chapel Cemetery at Quicks Run, Kentucky.
Found on http://www.genealogybuff.com/
“Seen this sign south of Wapanucka, Oklahoma the other day. I hear there are three Wilsons in the state of Oklahoma, and the other one is up northeast of Tulsa, and of course the one west of Ardmore.” -Russ Martin
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WilsonOklahoma2a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/WilsonOklahoma2b.jpg
“I was searching information about Hoxbar OK because my Aunt was telling me the other night that our family had settled there when they came out from Kentucky. I discovered in my search a photo taken sometime around 1907 of school photo of children standing outside. It indicated you had uploaded the picture. Does anyone have a list of the children in the photo? I am trying to find out if my grandfather, Boyd McGuire, is in this photo.” Becky McGuire Respess [email protected]
Note from 2002 T&T: Neta Gibson found what is probably the only remaining remnant of Hoxbar, Oklahoma. An old water well with the date 1917 on it in a field where the town once stood.
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos2002a/hoxwell.jpg
Hoxbar, Carter county, Oklahoma was located SE of Ardmore
“Butch, I’ve been eating green chile cheeseburgers at Bert’s Burger Bowl in Santa Fe for over 30 years. I’ve eaten at Bobcat Bite but I have one complaint about their burgers. The meat is too lean. The best green chile burgers are at the Buckhorn Burgers in San Antonio, N. M. but it is too far out of my way to visit often.
I would like to mention the best foot long chili dog can be found at the Dog House on Central Avenue in Albuquerque near Old Town. These are red chili dogs. I have been eating those dogs since 1974 and they have remained the same all that time. I only get by there once a year now but it is always special.” -Monroe Cameron
“Can any Reader provide the early history of Cornish, Oklahoma and the people who settled there? I have just discovered that some relatives of the Beavers and Pennington family members came from Wise and Montague Counties, Texas and settled in Cornish. What would have been the reason they came there? They had migrated from Tennessee.” -Nell Truitt
From 2001 T&T – Cornish Public School
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos2001a/Cornsch.jpg
“I don’t remember when Hardy Sanitarium closed, but it was being torn down in 1963, and I hauled or help haul many a brick from that place.” -Scott Bumgarner [email protected]
Note: The Hardy Sanitarium closed on May 30, 1955
“Butch: I read with fascination about a string of emails regarding Buster Ned and the Yellow Hills. My Mom and Dad are old timers around Ardmore and I asked them if they recalled anything about Buster Ned and the little people of the Yellow Hills. My Dad said he was actually invited to an event (around 1980) at Buster Ned’s farmhouse in the Yellow Hills, 4 or 5 years before Buster died. Dad actually filmed the Indian dances and some of the goings on that night. Mac McGalliard and his wife were there. There was a full moon out that night and they had a big open fire and a pot of food (pork and hominy) and fry bread cooking over the fire. There was a lone singer and drummer for the Indian dances and all the Native Americans were dressed in Choctaw dress. He made a copy of the film and gave it to the Tishomingo Tribal Museum for posterity. My Dad said he would make all his kids a copy of the film. Can’t wait to see it.” -Scheryl
“Butch, there is a Silver City about 5 miles north of Tuttle. I used to camp there as a boy scout. There is only a cemetery and some foundations left. It is a crossing for the Chisholm Trail over the Canadian river.” -John Farley
My grandfather, Marion William Holland was Sheriff of Murray County in the 1940s or 1950s. I spent a lot of time in the old jailhouse in Sulphur. I remember my grandmother cooking beans and cornbread every day and serving the prisoners through the slot in the kitchen. Are any Readers aware of any photos of that jailhouse?
Next question. We also had friends in Sulphur, Oklahoma, James and Ollie Lafey. Mr. Lafey owned a General Store or Tobacco store downtown. I do remember the swimming pool was within walking distance, but then walking distance then could have been miles. He was quite a wealthy man and my mother inherited many valuables from Ms. Lafey when she passed in 1973. Mr. Lafey died in 1963. If information, particularly on the old General/Tobacco store, it would be much appreciated.” -Carol [email protected]
Grandma’s Lye Soap written by Johnny Standley and Art Thorsen 1951
Do you remember grandma’s lye soap?
Good for everything in the home,
And the secret was in the scrubbing,
It wouldn’t suds and couldn’t foam.
Then let us sing right out of grandma’s, of grandma’s lye soap
Used for – for everything, everything on the place,
For pots and kettles, the dirty dishes, and for your hands and for your face.
So we’ll now sing the second verse.
Let’s get it with great exuberance, let’s live it up.
It’s not raining inside tonight.
Everyone, let’s have a happy time.
Are we ready? All together, the second verse.
Little Herman and brother Thurman
Had an aversion to washing their ears
Grandma scrubbed them with the lye soap.
And they haven’t heard a word in years.
Then let us sing right out of grandma’s, of grandma’s lye soap.
Sing all out, all over the place.
The pots and kettles, the dirty dishes, and also hands and also face.
(clapping fades)
Well, let’s sing what’s left of the last verse.
Let’s have a happy time, everyone.
The last verse, al-l-l-l together.
Ev-v-v-very one!
Mm-m-m-m. Thank you kindly, kindly,
M-m-mrs. O’Malley, out in the valley,
Suffered from Ulcers, I understand.
She swallowed a cake of grandma’s lye soap,
Has the cleanest ulcers in the land.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_XQjBEgzk
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a minute!
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Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
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/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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