It’s 1pm and some serious storms are brewing in the Ardmore area. Hopefully the bad stuff will stay on the south side of the Red River.
Washita Ferry near Gene Autry
Below is the Reed Ferry Crossing in Love County.
The Artesian fountain in Sulphur made it through the tornado last week.
A couple of weeks ago I talked about the man who fell from a 3rd floor window of the Carter County Courthouse back in November 1943. The Greater Southwest Historical Museum of Ardmore found in their archives 3 photos taken by the Fonville Brothers Photography company of Ardmore. Regading the photo below, I am wondering what 2 story building that is on the right side of the photo on the other side/behind the lone parked car. This would be 1st Street Southwest just before Washington street. I did find in the big City Directories there was a filling station in the SW corner of 1st Street SE and Washington Street.
I’m sure some of you have not been to the museum in a long time (some probably never). Well let me tell you, there is a storehouse of Ardmore and surrounding history within those walls. So if you’re one of those who has not visited, make a plan to go soon and look around. You will not be disappointed.
The True And Sad Story Of J. B. Champion, Jr., The Man Behind The Most Expensive Watch Without Complications Ever Sold At Auction
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/true-story-jb-champion
HAM Talk by KC5JVT via Echolink
I got a report Donald Head via our daily Boredom Breaker Net from my HAM radio friend after the May 6th tornado in northern Oklahoma..
KI5WDM
Donald W Head
544 Cnty Rd 2276
Barnsdall, OK 74002
Donald lives just outside Barnsdall (just NW of Tulsa). His wife is no longer physically able to go down into their cellar so they went into Barnsdall to a friend’s walk-in cellar last night. The tornado came within 1 block of them. When they came out of the cellar half of Barnsdall was devastated (1,000 population). Because of all the debri in the streets etc it took him forever to get back home. He ran over electric lines and all but made it home. His house was still standing. No electricity, so he is running his generator. he also has a 2nd backup generator. He said he’ll have to drive 30 miles to get gas tomorrow when the roads are suppose to be back open again. I’m just glad Donald and his wife are ok, and safely back at home.
The Bordom Beaker Net is heald every day, 7 days a week from 12 noon to 2:00pm Oklahoma time.
From the Mailbag
Hey, ”On The Halves”: Your mention of Dr. Moxley brought back fond memories of my pappy’s friend who lived on Broadway not far from us when I was a young lad. I had not thought of the good doctor in many years. ”The Colonel” always spoke fondly of him. This also jogged my memory of others in ”The Colonel’s” circle such as Richard Knapp and Joe Ben Champion. Many a domino game was played with such folks on Friday nights. I still have the Knapp family set of dominoes. I always looked forward to Fridays, because I got to stay up late eating popcorn and watching ”the tube” (Baby Boomer moments). Your newsletter always brings to mind a flood of memories of that which was familiar to us when we were young sprouts ”running the streets” of Ardmore on our bicycles during the ”Fabulous 50s”. Ah yes, T&T memories…… -Steve Miller
Q. What was the name of the little grocery store at C Street Southeast and 10th?
A. Payne’s Grocery. 927 C Street SE. Wayne Payne, owner 1967. Previously Trotter’s Grocery. Lastly Corner Grocery before being demolished.
Below is from my newsletter dated
May 5, 2001 – Issue 211
Here’s a photo of that once popular swimming hole on Pennington Creek in Tish.
This is a photo I took last weekend of the artesian well (sulphur water) springing up out of the ground in Sulphur, Oklahoma. A person can smell that sulphur odor when you drive up.
I was in the Turner Falls area north of Ardmore in the Arbuckle Mts last weekend. The big grass fire last fall must have destroyed the three crosses on top of the mountain there. The crosses were in memorial of the Boy Scout master and two Boy Scouts who fell to their deaths back in the 50s climbing that mountain side. It least that’s the rumor, I have not found proof of their deaths.
At the south edge of Healdton, Oklahoma is an unusual oil field contraption. Its on display at the Southerland Well Service and was used somehow to drill oil wells many many years ago.
Here’s a photo of City Hall in Hennessey, Oklahoma (south of Enid, Oklahoma). The building was originally the Hennessey High School built by my grandfather, Stanley Carmon, in 1927. School board members were: A.D. Stetler, W.M Jones, Dr. A. Dixon. Tonini & Bramble – Architects. S. Carmon, BLDR.
Below is the cornerstone of the Hennessey school.
The Carter County Assessors Office here in Ardmore received some new desks this week. The desks are made/assembled by the inmates in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The desks are wood and very good quality. Government and non-profit organizations are eligible to buy the desks at a reasonable price.
I was surprised to see this mural in your T&T. My son, Jeff Keith, painted this about five years ago. He also painted the one on the building wall on North Washington and 2nd Northeast of the people on the park bench. There are several others around the state but I don’t know where they are. Your doing good. -Ken Keith
Note: Besides painting a couple murals in downtown Ardmore Jeff Keith also sketched by hand drawings the sheriffs since 1907 that hung on the wall in the sheriffs department. Seems no one knows what happened to the drawings.
“One of the article’s was about the Garnand’s of Ardmore. Well, I’m a Garnand from Ardmore and I would greatly appreciate Knowing who sent the article to you. A couple of weeks ago you printed an article I sent to you about my Grandpa, Delt Garnand, who lived on Caddo and made knives, saws and sharpened them. The other brothers were my Great Uncle’s. Also, the man killed demolishing the old court house was my second cousin. His name was James (Jim) Garnand son of James F Garnand. Ben Garnand was the youngest of the Garnand brothers and lived for many years on 12th st. NW. Please print my e-mail address so that I might make contact with whoever wrote the article and any friends that I might still have in or around Ardmore. Thanks.” -Roy (Buddy) Garnand.
“You mentioned Purcell so much in your Newsletter of the 27th, you sure got me hungry. I grew up (mostly) in Wilson, joined the US Air Force in 1961, and traveled to a few places after that. I’ve not lived in OK since. I visited often until my mother died about 10 years ago, and always made it a point to stop at the DQ in Purcell when I was traveling in that direction. I knew I could get a real old fashioned ‘Okie Burger’ there. I sometimes think I would drive to OK just to get a hamburger. After the freeway went in though, it wasn’t long before that source dried up. I’d have to wait a couple of more hours to get my fix at the “Eagle’s Nest” in Wilson. As far as the uniforms go, I recall Healdton (I was born there) as being blue and white and I believe Fox (went to the 6th grade there) had the red uniforms ? ? ? But that was all a long time ago.”
“Dear Butch. Someone inquired about the colors of the Healdton High School Band: for years, the band’s colors were maroon and grey with gold trim, but the school colors were blue/white. Don’t know why they were different but I graduated in 1952 and the colors of the band were like that then. Hope this info helps your subscriber.”
“I can’t explain the reason for the change, yes the Bulldog Band always had white and blue uniforms. For some reason they bought beautiful maroon uniforms in the 60’s and wore them for several years. I had a son that wore one, and it was really well made of heavy material. The next uniforms they bought were blue and white.”
“I was in the HHS band l958 -1961 and our uniforms were maroon then.”
“Scanned from the “Journal of Carter Counties Schools” 1923 published by Mrs. Kate Galt Zanies, County Superintendent. This was taken from a very small photograph of the Equal Rights School – District #14. “The school is located about 8 miles north of Ardmore, just west of the Springer Road. The school maintains eight grades of work under the supervision of Mrs. Myrtle Hooven. There is already an interest manifested toward the working out of a centralized school at Springer and one at Mt. Washington. Equal Rights School district joins both of these districts…….There is a store located on the Springer Road”
“1923 Rocky Point School was organized in 1909. Prior to that time pupils of this locality went to the Cisco School. At the time of organizing school district 16, only one teacher was necessary and the original building contained only one room. Last year bonds were voted and an additional room was added to this school……Rocky Point School offers eight grades of work taught by C.H.Hatfield, Principal, and Miss Ithoma Darling, assistant.”
“Butch, Whitebead, Oklahoma is just a little settlement now, located on Highway 19 just west of Pauls Valley. In the 1800’s it was an important landmark for wagon trains heading to California. It happened to be the highest point in Garvin County, (the big hill on your left as you pass through the Pauls Valley exit on I-35 heading North).”
“It was also on the old stage coach route from Fort Sill to Alex, to Lindsay, on to Maysville, Whitebead, and then to Pauls Valley (Washita Crossing) to Sulphur (Sulphur Springs) where the trail split; one trail went to Fort Arbuckle and the other on to Mill Creek and Tishomingo and finally Fort Washita. Wagon trains following the Old Chisom Trail passed through Fort Washita, you can still see the wagon ruts there. Note: Washita Crossing was actually a point on the Washita River where wagon trains, horseman, and cattle crossed the river just a few miles “South and East of present day Pauls Valley.”
“Butch, here is an interesting bit of Ardmore History I found at the Whitebead Cemetery recently. It is a tombstone that reads: J M Powers, Born Dec 4, 1824, Died Nov 29, 1892. At the very bottom right of the Tombstone it reads: Ardmore Marble Works. You must open the picture with some photo software and Magnify the image to really read the inscription.”
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23244294/james-m-powers
“To please everybody is impossible, were I to undertake it I should probably please nobody.” –George Washington.
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
580-490-6823
