Unincorported Newport, Oklahoma is 10 miles NW of Ardmore and old enough to appear on a 1911 Rand McNally map of the county. Newport was an established post office from May 17, 1892 to May 26, 1961. Probably the most rememerable event to take place at Newport was the death of Ruby Hardy, wife of county judge and one time County Attorney, Andrew Hardy, in 1930. The exact cause of death of Ruby Hardy remains a mystery to this day. I have my opinion and you can draw yours from the article below I typed up in June 1996.
https://oklahomahistory.net/the-ruby-hardy-mystery/
Not much left of Newport, Oklahoma now-a-days, just a few homes and the now closed Newport Grocery which was ran for 35 years by Newport resident Shirley Christian (1936-2022). I took the picture below of Shirley inside her store in 2006 at the intersection of Newport Road and Stobtown Road (5.5 miles) north of Lone Grove. Anyone remember what year Shirley closed her Newport Grocery?
Lone Grover Monty Jones sent in a photo he took about 1982 of the old grocery and gas station at Newport, Oklahoma. The propietor at that time was Oliver Ashley (1899-1983). What a piece of Carter County history! Thanks Monty for this glimpse into the past.
Liberty Theater of Ardmore can be seen on the left hand side.
A one hour video tour of the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyNWSdqMISM
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
Hi Butch: Just read your newsletter and saw the article about you wanting to do a drawing of Washington elementary. The man who provided the drawing has an excellent memory, but I go back even a little farther. I attended there from 1945 to 1950. The clasroom on the west wing with a question mark was Miss Davis’s for many years. She was my 4th grade teacher and that was her home room. She lived in an upstairs apartment house on North Washington and was unmarried. The room on the southwest corner at that time was Mr. Ossie Self’s home room. He taught math and was assistant principal to George Connoly. Mr. Self lived on N.E. Third street about a half block east of Carmon Lumber Company. Good luck on your project. -Jim Guess
Back in the 50’s when Turner Falls looked like this, just before the flood water came over the top, we’d pull the two by twelve boards in the dam, jump on the train that ran back then, ride it down to the stop behind the rock pavilion, run to the bathhouse, grab our tractor tire inner tubes, run to the dam at Blue Hole, watch for the flood water to come around the curve behind the bathhouse, pull the boards of the dam, wait on the flood waters to arrive, jump in the inner tubes and ride the water as it went gushing over the dam, no one ever made it past fifty feet once we hit bottom. -Poss Ford
“The Best Hamburgers
MAMA JOSIE’S (201 Apache St.) Terral. Oklahoma. Today, she has a double bacon cheese burger basket with fries and drink for $8.99. Everything she serves is top notch and the best handmade dishes. It’s a drive, but you will not be disappointed on any thing you eat. (Handmade enchiladas as ordered) They are ½ pounders. The restaurant is in a lumberyard building painted white with red trim that is over 100 years old. The hamburger patties are handmade. They are the best juicy burgers we have ever had.” – Kayla Barthold
UPDATE: Don’t miss it! Open til 2. Then from 5 till 8 or so. Call & make sure she’s open….. 580-437-2227 You will love it! Best cheese enchiladas you’ve ever wrapped a lip around! Hand made when you order! -Pat Webb
HAM Talk By Butch Bridges KC5JVT – Allstar node # 58735 – Echolink # 101960
The Arbuckle 970 Net meets every Sunday night at 8pm. Any licensed HAM is welcome to check-in.
Below is from my newsletter archives dated
July 3, 2008 – Issue 597
A Reader told me this week about a piece of property for sale west of Davis that back before 1900 played a very important part in history. The land I speak of is where Fort Arbuckle stood about 5 miles west of Davis and then back north. The fort has long been gone, and the property in private hands, but back before statehood it was a place of safety for the Chickasaw Indians (and others of the five civilized tribes) when the Comanche were attacking anyone and everyone who traveled these parts. The Chickasaw Indians would make camp just outside the fort because they knew the Union soldiers would protect them from attacks. If you do a google search for “fort arbuckle” you will find plenty of reading on this place during the time Oklahoma was Indian Territory.
Ardmoreite Pete Burch sent in an interesting article this week he clipped from the Ft Worth Star Telegram several years ago. The newspaper article is about a famous shootout that took place about 15 miles NW of Ardmore at Woodford. U.S. Marshal, Bass Reeves, tracked down a killer to the Bywaters store at Woodford, and after a shootout, outlaw Jim Webb lay dying on the ground
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Joshua_Webb
The Healdton Herald, July 19, 1944
Healdton’s home cannery is now open and is part of a nation wide program to help provide urgently needed food for the hungry millions in war-devastated Europe. A visit to the Home Cannery located back of Wade’s Drug Store and opposite the post office West, which opened Tuesday morning, July 17, revealed a large clean building with concrete floor and equipment to serve every need. Sterilizer, exhaust, electric sealer, pre-cookers, cookers, coolers, vegetable and fruit press, electric mill, scales, Wearever aluminum, white enamel trays, cooling racks, and all kinds of utensils for the preparation of food are installed and ready for the use of those who wish to preserve food.
The Home Canning Department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the State department have furnished this much needed enterprise in its entirety with the exception of towels. A few tin cans are now available at the cannery. W. H. Ervin’s Hardware will handle cans in the future.
Mrs. Eula Cummins of Ringling who is in charge, reported a total of 85 cans of vegetables canned the opening day with Mrs. J. P. Wade the first entrant, canning 20 pints of beans; then Mrs. Beatty, peas and squash; Mrs. Claxton next and Mrs. E. Tayar with corn on the cob. Mrs. Ray slipped under the wire Monday with 8 pints of squash that looked like pictures.
“Hi Butch, Just read online about the tragic death of Terry Hyman. I met him years ago when he was a Love County commissioner. We interviewed him in the aftermath of the 1981 fall floods that hit Love County so hard. Here is a clip of Terry reacting to the damage throughout the county. Deepest sympathies to Linda, Ann Marie and all the family.” -Kathy Conry
“It was the 101 Ranch, headquarters just north of the Noble-Kay county line north of Marland (formerly Bliss), Oklahoma. I grew up in Perry, county seat of Noble County, and part of the ranch extended into Noble County. As I child I remember in the depression the derelict circus cars on the siding just north of Marland. The 101 Rance had a wild west circus that toured the United Staes, Europe, and other parts of the world.” -Wes Leatherock
The International Music Score Library Project is once again providing
free access to public domain music scores. This is not the actual
music, but the written scores. A letter describing the project can be
found here (http://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Open_Letter_(Reopening)) and the
IMSLP web site is here (http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page).
Where was the Adam Jimmy House or the Adam Jimmy point? Was ?House? the surname of Adam Jimmy House? After all, House Creek flowed into Red River. The following paragraph, and the accompanying two maps, describes the ?Whiskey Trail? used during the Civil War era. The Whiskey Trail was the road between Bourland?s home at the Delaware Bend of Red River (Texas) and Fort Arbuckle.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/AdamJimmyHouseLoveCounty.jpg
? … Col. Bourland lived south of Red River and for a long time sold corn at Fort Arbuckle. He made a trail, ?Whiskey Trail,? from his home to the Fort. This road came up by the ?Devil?s Neckbone? near the present Lake Murray site, then intersected the Gainesville road at the ?Adam Jimmy House? point. These two roads ran together across the Arbuckle Mountains. The Whiskey Trail branched off from this road near Woodford. …? per a 1937 WPA Interview with Henry Martin Brown (1856-1954) of Overbrook OK, Indian Pioneer History, v5-149/p12.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos6a/WhiskeyTrail.jpg
Again, where was the ?Adam Jimmy House? point? Another question: Was ?Devil?s Backbone? and ?Devil?s Neckbone? the same place? (see ?This and That,? Vol 12 Issue 593 Jun 5, 2008) Patricia Adkins-Rochette
Mother of all websites. Each tab actually works. Someone was a website master to link all these sites. This is a useful website that has it all! Check it out. Worthwhile to bookmark so you can go there whenever you want.
“Butch, George C Jones’ Cabin Cruiser was named Elinor Faye after his brother Tommy’s wife Elinor and his wife Faye. His wife Faye was a lovely woman who sadly died quite young.”
The Wilson News submitted by Mindy Taylor
2-25-1915
“Wilson Should Have Gas”
With an abundance of gas within six miles of this town we ought to be able to find a way to get it piped in here for light and fuel. Four good street lights in Wilson would make the old town look alive. With cheap fuel we might have factories and a dinner pail brigade marching through our streets daily. Then there is the saving of fuel for domestic purposes. The average householder in Wilson would save at least twenty dollars a year on fuel bills with gas.
3-4-1915
Wilson should be making efforts to secure some of the things which by right belong to a good, live town. We are situated so close to natural gas that you can almost spit on it; but no one seems to be making an effort to derive any benefit from it here.
2-24-1916
“Gas Lines To Wilson”
Jake L. Hamon started a crew of forty men at work Monday morning to lay a gas main from section 15 in the Healdton field south to the right of way of the Ringling road. The line to the railroad will be a six inch main then from there one four inch main will be laid in Wilson. Mr. Hamon has a number of large gas wells in that section and also plenty of area where other wells can be drilled. He hopes to have his line in operation at the end of six weeks as the pipe are now at Wilson ready to be unloaded.
Wilson Museum hours: Thurs. Fri., Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
The Devil’s beating his wife. (When it’s rainy and sunny at the same time.)
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net