The Ghost of Burneyville’s Hotel -from the Red River Historian website.
https://www.redriverhistorian.com/post/the-ghost-of-burneyville-s-hotel
I was at the Carter county courthouse this week and snapped this picture of the dome being rebuilt. I have been inside it a lot over the years I worked there, it was in bad shape. I was in conversation with a friend many months ago. He asked me, “Do you think the commissioners will repair the deteriorating dome.” My reply was, “I know they will fix it, if they don’t it will come crashing down someday.” The wood supporting structure underneat the copper dome has been slowly rotting over the past 124 years, partly due to bullet holes from many decades ago.
Below is a picture I took in November 2022 of the water damage to the wood.
This is a link to my unclaimed insurance
listinghttps://oklahomahistory.net/unclaimed-property-in-oklahoma/
From this week’s Mailbag
Q. Wasn’t that John Small’s Bakery on H just south of 3rd NE? -Jerry Jones
A. It was located in the NE corner of 2nd and H NE. Below is a picture I took of the dilapidating building in 2008 (my grandfather Stanley Carmon built.
Arbuckle, Oklahoma formerly Crusher, Oklahoma. 4 Miles south of Dougherty. Name changed to Arbuckle August 21, 1911 and post office name change to Big Canyon March 2, 1922. Took its name from the surrounding Arbuckle mountains
Regarding the note in the most recent news letter from Richard Craven asking about early baseball teams in Oklahoma. He might try contacting the Oklahoma Sports Museum in Guthrie. I believe they had some books by Pete Pierce about all the area baseball teams in the early days. He wrote four or five and had great information and pictures. Some are listed on Amazon but might be pretty scarce by now. Thank you for all the wonderful work you do. -Lois Proctor
”On-the-halves” > speakin’ of folks who used to walk the streets of Ardmore > remember the KVSO disc jockey who lived over on 3rd, one block due south of Big Momma’s house on the 1200 block of Stanley ? He could be seen walking just about anywhere in Ardmore. Big Momma’s house was torn down > that lot is still vacant > I wonder who owns it now ? Did the library get her huge doll collection ? Us kids all remember Big Momma > she always wore a big flowing country dress complete with a bonnet & apron > AND she smoked a corncob pipe. She would sit on Mrs Jackson’s front porch and tell us stories. We were mesmerized by this old woman smoking a pipe and telling stories. > > AND who can forget the Hot Tamale Man ? > pushing his cart all over Ardmore. I can still see that little wooden cart with a brass bell on top dinging every time he pulled the bell string or pushed the cart over a bump or curb, as the bell was mounted on a spring. -Steve Miller
Butch, In one of your latest newsletters you included photos past and present of an Ardmore home. That house happened to be my grandparents’ home for 20 years – 205 C St. SW. They were Maurice and Natalie Bridge. He once owned a jewelry store in downtown Ardmore. For some time my great-grandmother lived in an apartment on the right hand side of the home. It was great to see its beauty back in the day, and the current owners seem to be keeping the place looking grand. I’ve spent many an hour playing on that front porch, and my grandfather always walked us to and from the post office each day when we visited. I’ve included a photo of a lovely drawing accompanied by a bit of the house’s history. Thanks for adding to our family memories with your posted photos. We always enjoyed our trips to Ardmore. -Donna Tuttle Holt, Quitman, TX
Below is from my newsletter archives dated
October 2, 1999 – Issue 128
I’ve lived all my life here. I’ve been through Dickson, Oklahoma (9 miles east of Ardmore) a million times. A couple weeks ago I first noticed two things in the center of Dickson along highway 199. First, there is one of those green historical markers on the south side of the highway, across from the Dickson High School. That marker tells about a Durwood, Oklahoma (located just south of Dickson) resident by the name of Rosella Hightower. Ms. Rosella Hightower was born in 1920 and later became a renown prima ballerina. The U.S. produced five world leading prima ballerinas at the same time, and they all were from the eastern half of Oklahoma, all of Indian heritage. No other nation ever produced five prima ballerinas at the same time. The five prima ballerinas were: Yvonne Chouteau (Cherokee Indian) from Vinita, Oklahoma; Moscelyne Larkin (Peoria Indian) of Miami, Oklahoma; Maria and sister Majorie Tallchief (Osage Indian) of Fairfax, Oklahoma; and Rosella Hightower (Chickasaw Indian) of Durwood, Oklahoma. Here is a photo of the historical marker in Dickson, Oklahoma dedicated to Ms. Hightower.
Secondly, in Dickson, Oklahoma right beside the above historical marker is a sign denoting a park. I have never heard of this park nor do I know anything about it. The sign reads Lazy Creek Park. You travel south a few hundred feet down the road and come to what I guess is the park. But when I was there, the gate was closed and locked. Maybe someone knows more about this park?
Note: I did a Google search this week for Lazy Creek Park and the only place the Dickson Oklahoma park is mentioned is in my 1999 newsletter.
Last week I was visiting the Chickasaw Regional Library and across the street in an open field sit a helicopter. I was told the pilot had landed/parked there while staying at the Hampton Inn next door. I happen to noticed on the helicopter tail the words “boatpix.com” Come to find out the helicopter is from Florida and used by a company to take photos of boats. He/she sure flew a long way to take photos of boats at Lake Murray, if that is the case. Anyway it sure was a beautiful helicopter…. and I wanted to take a ride.
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
580-490-6823
