PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net, Phone: 580-490-6823
The Twenties Era was an active one for the city. In 1927 Ardmore had a population of 20,000. There were four banks, eight public schools, twenty-two churches, fifteen hotels, four railroads, three newspapers, four fishing and hunting clubs, four cotton gins and a cotton press, two golf clubs, a country club, two hospitals, a public farm market, three oil refineries and a baseball team.
The Carter County Courthouse, which at the time of construction in 1911, had been called the best courthouse in the Southwest adding a crowning feature to the dome in 1928, a Seth Thomas Clock weighing 1 ton and costing in excess of $2,000. The clock was installed by George Virgil Hunter who was an electrician, carpenter and inventor. In time the clock’s hands refused to move and the bell did not activate the chimes. Through the efforts of concerned citizens and after years of silence the chimes rang out on October 5, 1996 and the illuminated faces on four sides of the courthouse dome proclaimed to the north, south, east, and west the correct time of day in Ardmore.
The Classic Revival structure with its smooth stone construction and tall round columns, was topped with a metal dome and cupola and above each doorway carved in granite are the words of famous philosophers: The safety of the state is the highest law, Justinian; The punishment can be remitted, the crime is everlasting, Ovid; The foundations of justice are that no one should suffer wrong, Cicero; He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it, Seneca; Prosperity gives every man his true honor, Tacitus.
In 1985 the Carter County Courthouse was placed on the National Registry of historic places.
-The above is from Territory Town, The Ardmore Story by Sally Gray, 2006
Main Street scene at Fairfax, Oklahoma in the 1920s.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/FairfaxOKMainStreet1920s.jpg
Below is an old Protex padlock that I’ve owned since my teens. I have only one key, but it works perfectly. Protex is still making locks today.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ProxtexPadlock1.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ProxtexPadlock2.jpg
One of several bricks I sandblasted this week.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/RonLyonsPaver.jpg
You can find current gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Q. Is all of Oklahoma in the Central Time Zone?
A. “Butch, the answer to your newsletter question about all of Oklahoma being in the Central Time Zone. The correct answer is YES, however Kenton is within the Central Time Zone but does observe Mountain Time due to their proximity to other cities that are within the Mountain Time Zone. Also, many of us within Oklahoma observe no time zone. We operate on Indian Time. We get there when we get there and we leave when we leave. It seems to work out nice for me and is certainly less stressful.” -Gerald
Q. What Oklahoma county touches four other states?
A. (answer in next week’s T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of October 26, 2002
Last Saturday night, Oct 21, 2002, around 9:30pm a 3.3 earthquake rumbled south of Atoka, Oklahoma. It was felt as far away as Durant. I talked to a friend at the post office and asked if he felt it. He said he and his wife were sitting in the living room and when the tremor came through, he asked his wife, “what in the world is that”? He said they even found items that fell off shelves in their house, the tremor was that strong.
—————————————————-
“I read with interest your remark that the trunk of a car in England is called a boot. Also the hood is called the bonnet.”
—————————————————-
“Butch, the party who remembered Mrs. Bishop at the high school was right. Muncie Reese WAS the History teacher there for about a zillion years. When I was in high school in the mid fifties, we used to have secret desire day and Muncie always came as a bride!!! I remember hearing about Mrs. Bishop although she was gone by the time I got to AHS. Muncie always liked the boys better than the girls. The boys could get away with anything but the girls got “the look”. She was so short she sat on a stool. She was very intimidating. She got her hair done at the same beauty shop as my mom and whenever she was there, I stayed outside!!!”
—————————————————-
“Ms Ringer was a very tough teacher I remember one time she got into a little trouble. There was two boys in my 5th grade class at Washington School it must have been in 1961 or 1962 can’t remember but any way. One of these boys was at the pencil sharpener and he stab the other boy in the arm with a pencil the boy began to cry and Ms Ringer came over and took a pencil from the boy that had stab the other boy and stab him several times in the arm I remember it drew blood and the boy cried and his parents were called. Ms Ringer was called to Mr. Connley’s office but she was back in class the next day if I remember correctly. I had to stay I after school almost everyday in Ms Ringer’s class for some infraction and she would always give us candy when it was time to go home saying we should get a paddling but she would give us candy instead. I also remember her making us name the pictures on the wall Blue Boy , The Gleaners and so on, she was also a good artist I leaned a lot from Ms Ringer. Abraham Lincoln was her favorite person in the world I guess One day she had us write a poem as home work, well like always “Old Luther” didn’t do it . So she got me up in front of the class and said to make up a poem, well I did. “Three cheers for Old Abe Lincoln he is in his grave dead and stinken.” Well another paddling and after school again for “Old Luther” When it was time to go home Ms Ringer said she had not paddled me because it was a bad poem it was the subject and the content of the poem that got me into trouble. Ms Ringer would read us poetry, she would always read it the way the poet would have read it. Always tiring to teach us of the wonderful things in life. To me she was a great teacher there should be more like her today. Mr. Stamper was also one of my teachers he had what he called a 70 list anyone making below 70 got a swat with his paddle well Old Luther never made more that 30 or 35 so I got the paddle almost daily , One time Mr. Stamper said Luther There are 14 words on this spelling test if you spell 7 right I well give you a tootsie roll pop sucker. Well in my way of thinking a tootsie roll pop suckers sold for 2 cents and a pop bottle sold for 2 cents so I told Mr. Stamper I could sell a pop bottle and get me one of them tootsie roll pop suckers at Basil Moran’s store, well here we go again Old Luther got paddled before and after the spelling test if I remember correctly. Ms Ringer and Mr. Stamper were my favorite teacher at Washington School I also remember Mr. Biles, Ms Whitmore, Ms Zomwalt, Ms Sherman, and Ms Hudgens. We move around a lot when I was in school I went to Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Dickson as well as school in Duncan, Fredrick, Walters, and in Arkansas, Indiana, We work alot pulling cotton in Western Okla. around Altas, Fredrick, and Walters we would be gone from Ardmore while the season for cotton was on and come back when it was over we went to Indiana an picked tomatoes and to Arkansas and picked peaches never made it to CA we was to broke to go that far I guess. Washington School was my favorite of all the many schools I went to. It made me sad when it burned down a lot of childhood memories of dear friends long ago Winston “Cheesy” Jefferson, Kenny Tate, Linda Goodin, Peggy Mize, the Dickson boys, Donna lllnisky, Tommy Little, Lloyd Lee Wickwire, Wanda Lloyd, Edward Marr, Charles Carter, Robert Miller, William Lee, Charles Lee, George Walker, just to name a few.”
—————————————————-
“While going thru some of the pictures at your website, I discovered the pictures of the old Milo Baptist Church which were taken right before and after it was burned. What makes me feel so old (AMONG OTHER THINGS!) is that I remember when they tore down part of the old Milo school/church building, dragged the smaller rooms about 40 yards to the west, and built onto them to create the “new” church, which is now the “old” one that burned. I believe it was finished about 1953. Since then I have attended more funerals in that building than I can count, due to the fact that both sides of my family, back to three sets of great-grandparents, lived and are buried there. On the happier side, I am attaching a couple of pictures of the now-NEW church, taken back in May—one shot of the outside and one of the unfinished sanctuary. I hear that it is now virtually complete and in at least partial use, and that the dedication day is set for in November—the third, I believe. I haven’t seen it since May, but I am sure it must look great by now. Maybe some of your readers live there and can fill us in on the dedication plans.” -Keith Ward, Oklahoma City.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/milonew3.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/milonew4.jpg
—————————————————-
“We have some ties to Oklahoma. My father, Carl M. Goen graduated from Wilson High School in 1926. He was born in Purcell in 1907. My grandfather, Jesse Dillard Goen was married to Ora Lee Smith in Purcell about 1906. Her second husband was C.D.White and he had a tin shop in Wilson. In the 1900 census, my great grandfather, Joseph Franklin Goen and his family were living near Chickasaw. Dallas White Smith, father of Ora Lee is buried at Wilson Cemetery. His first wife was Ollie Mooney and she is buried at Free-O cemetery north of Healdton. Llena Goen, my aunt, was married to Everett Burris. She as born 1910 in Hewitt which is now part of Wilson. Am interested in contacting anyone who might have info on these surnames.” -Paul Lynn Goen, Albuquerque, NM
—————————————————-
“A number of years ago I read a book published (in 1935) by Motorbooks International about service station memorabilia, particularly logos on signs and pumps, etc., and it included a directory of oil companies that existed at one time, often with a description of what happened to them. Selected items in the directory were pretty interesting, telling how companies merged or changed their names, etc.”
—————————————————-
“Many newspapers with today’s technologies have thrown out all the old issues on paper because of the space required to store them and the impracticality of scanning all the old issues. The Oklahoma Historical Society went through a great project a number of years ago and microfilmed the archives of every newspaper in the state they could find. (The newspapers cooperated on this, of course.) For many, perhaps most, newspapers those are the only archives from pre-computer days. You have to reserve time on their microfilm readers since this is a very popular source and very difficult to search as they are merely arranged by the date of the paper. But you’ll find some real gems in there.”
—————————————————-
—————————————————-
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..Wilson Daily DemocratNovember 26, 1924School Burns at TishomingoTishomingo, Nov. 25 – The Tishomingo high school was gutted by flames Monday night by a fire which started in the furnace room. Several thousand dollars worth of equipment was destroyed in addition to the building loss. Two firemen were hurt by falling plaster and glass and T. C. Napier, superintendent of schools sustained a sprained ankle in falling through the floor into the furnace room. J. B. Hutchins, fire chief was slightly bruised in a similar fall. Jess Martin and Bob Lynn were the injured firemen.The loss was covered by insurance and plans to rebuild are already under way. School will be held in Tishomingo churches and community building until the reconstruction work is completed.
At the link below are 10 more scans of old photographs this week. -Robert Hensley
https://oklahomahistory.net/postcards
“Santa Fe locomotive 1108 in Ardmore:
Painting facility going up around SF 1108 where it sits at the Hardy-Murphy Coloseum in Ardmore. After painting it will be transported to the new RR park area beside the SF/RI depot at Main Street, Ardmore.” -C. Dwane Stevens
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/Locomotive1108PaintBox102216a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/Locomotive1108PaintBox102216b.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/Locomotive1108PaintBox102416.jpg
Thanks for the reply and I am glad to see the train will be painted and moved to its new location. I always thought it would look better near the Santa Fe Depot when the passengers on Amtrack will get off and see it in the new park. I also heard that Amtrack will stop running sometime next year due to the state budget crunch. The senate and house voted to stop funding.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1944 Jan 6 p. 1
Birth date: 1906 Nov 26
text of obituary:
Tragedy at Ringwood, Okla., Takes Lives of Six in One Family
ORLEY SCHROEDER AND FIVE CHILDREN DIED AS RESULT OF EXPLOSION AND FIRE
Friends in Oklahoma and Kansas were shocked to hear of the tragic death of Orley Schroeder and five children at Ringwood, Okla., who shortly before Christmas lost their lives in or following an explosion and fire which completely destroyed their farm home near Ringwood. The accident happened Saturday night, Dec. 18.
A large crowd of grief-stricken relatives and friends attended the funeral for the six victims held at the Holdeman church southeast of Fairview, Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 22.
The Enid (Okla.) Morning News of Dec. 21 gives the following details of the tragedy:
“Mrs. Schroeder, only surviving member of the family of seven, was suffering considerably last night but it was believed she would recover. She received superficial facial burns and severe burns on hands and feet. She remains at the local hospital where she was taken after the fire and where three of the children, Toby, 13, Rowena, 11, and John, 4, died Sunday.
“Mr. Schroeder and two children, Susie Jane, 9, and Geneva, 11 months, perished in the fire which was caused by gasoline which exploded as Mr. Schroeder was filling a gasoline cook stove in the same room in which a kerosene lamp was burning.
“The Schroeder family had resided at Ringwood for about six years having come to Oklahoma from Lehigh, Kans.
“Survivors include Mr. Schroeder’s mother, Mrs. Susie Schroeder of near Longdale; his two sisters, Mrs. Edna Buller and Mrs. Iva Eicher, both of Foley, Ala.; and brother, Edward Schroeder of California. Also surviving are Mrs. Schroeder’s mother, Mrs. Henry Boehs, and brother, Dave Boehs, both of Ringwood; and a sister Mrs. Ervina Ratzlaff, Lehigh, Kans.”
“Hi Butch. I think the Horseshoe Curve you refer to is what we used to call Hairpin Curve and it was a white-knuckle trip for my mother to drive every time. As I recall, there was a semi trailer rolled over inside the curve all the time I was in high school. Many, many years later I had occasion to drive through it and admit it was teeth-gritting for me just with all the memories.” -Claire
Butch, there is at least one more brand of rattlesnake that you didn’t mention last week, and that is a velvet-tailed rattler. We have them in NE Oklahoma.
“Let us consider the reasons of the case. For nothing is law that is not reason.”
Sir John Powell, English judge (1633-1696)
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm’s Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
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 Government Website
http://cartercountyOK.us/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my Website.
Feel free to forward this free newsletter. Mailouts: over 1,550.