Towns and Town Histories

"Oklahoma Place Names", by George H. Shirk
and Other Resources

ABBOTT: Near Ada. A post office from Jan. 25, 1909 to Feb. 15, 1910. No longer in existence. Name for Jourdan A. Abbott, an early-day resident.

ADA: County Seat. Post Office July 10,1891. Named for Ada Reed, dau. of the 1st post master, William J. Reed. ADA

AHLOSO: 4 miles SE of Ada. Post office from Nov. 7, 1904-June 30 1917. Until Nov. 7, 1904 post office was named Ahlora.

ALLEN: 19 miles NE of Ada. Post office April 9, 1892. Named for Allen McCall, son of a deputy U.S. Marshal.

BEBEE: 7 miles NW of Ada. Post office Sept. 15 1896-Feb. 15, 1928. Named for Frank Bebee, official of the Post office department.

BLACKROCK: 11 miles NE of Ada. Post office June 27,1901 , and name changed to Steedman, Jan. 19, 1910.

BYNG: 5 miles north of Ada. Post office Dec. 15, 1917-Jan. 25, 1957. Named for Sir Julian Byng of the British Army.

NWn.w. of Ada. Post office June 9,1890-Feb. 15, 1928. Name is from the site being located near the center of Indian Territory.
 

COLBERT''S STATION: A stage stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route to California, which crossed southeastern Oklahoma. 1858-61. Named for Benjamin F. Colbert, prominent Chickasaw tribal leader and operator of Colbert's Ferry. Post office Aug. 5, 1873-June 29, 1881.

CONWAY: 7 miles north of Stonewall. Post Office Aug. 22, 1896-April 30, 1914. Name comes from Conway, MO.

DELAWARE RIDGE: Land south of Ada, a landmark on the California Road, surveyed in 1849.

DELIA: Adjoining Ada. Post office Jan. 13, 1906-Sept. 15, 1906. Named for Delia Johnson, wife of Samuel Johnson, early resident.

DOLBERG: S.W. Pontotoc Co. 4 miles west of Roff. Post office Nov. 18, 1895-May 14, 1915. Named by E.W. Westhoff for his former home in Germany.

DOT: Near Roff. Post office Oct. 8, 1904-April 15, 1905, no longer in existence.

FITTSTOWN: 11 miles south of Ada. Post office June 22,1935. Names for John Fitts, geologist.

FITZHUGH: 8 miles SW of Ada. Post office June 24, 1898, named for General Fitzhugh Lee, confederate hero.

FRANCIS: Formerly Newton. 7 miles NE. of Ada. Post office June 5, 1902. Named for David R. Francis, secretary of the interior under Wm. McKinley.

FRANKS: 8 miles SW of Stonewall. Post office Feb.1, 1894-Aug.15, 1932. Named for Frank Byrd, early resident.

FRISCO: Eastern, 2 miles so. of present Stonewall, location of original Stonewall. Post office June 13, 1906-April 30, 1941. Named by townspeople under the mistaken impression that a railroad route under construction by the OK Central Railway was the Frisco Railroad.

Galey: About 12 miles NW of Ada on 3w.  It was named after Sgt. Thomas Galey who settled there. Galey cemetery is a few miles east of the present Galey.  Mr. Galey is buried there.  (Information furnished by:  Ed Bray in Oct2010)

HARDEN CITY: 11 miles south of Ada. Post office May 7, 1937. Names for Andrew Harden, local resident.

Happyland  Between Ada and Allen on Highway No. 1 and was named for a "happy man named Land,"

HART: 3 miles SW of Vanoss. Post office June 28, 1894-Sept 30, 1920. Names for John A. Hart, postmaster. Hart School. No longer in existence.

HIRD: 3 miles NE of Ada. Post office Jan. 4, 1894-Sept. 30, 1902. Named for Nicholas Hird, resident.

HORSESHOE RANCH: S.W. Pontotoc Co. 5 miles east of Hickory. Post office July 13,1916-Jan. 14, 1922. Took its name from a nearby Horseshoe Ranch.

INGRAM: S.W. Pontotoc Co. near Roff. Post office Dec. 9, 1899-Nov. 30, 1900. No longer in existence. Named for Theodocia L. Ingram. first postmaster.

JESSE: S.E. Pontotoc Co. 6 miles south of Stonewall. Post office July 13, 1898-Nov. 15, 1917. Named for Jesse Ayakatubby, a young Chickasaw man.

Lula: Located in Eastern part of county, 6 miles N.E. of Stonewall. Post Office form 1902 to 1955, named for Lula Scott, daughter of John Scott.

McKENNEY: N.W. Pontotoc Co. 3 miles east of Stratford. Post office June 22, 1892-Nov. 15,1893. Named for James E. McKenney, first postmaster. No longer in existence.

MAXWELL: N.W. Pontotoc Co. 7 miles s.e. of Asher. Post office Geb. 14, 1896-Oct.15, 1929.

MEANS: 5 miles SW of Ada. Post office May 17, 1902-Dec. 31, 1902. Named for Eliza B. Means, first postmaster. No longer in existence.

NEWTON: N. Pontotoc Co. 7 miles NE of Ada. Post office April 17, 1894 and name changed to Francis, June 5, 1902.

OAKMAN: 5 miles NE of Ada. Post offic Dec 24, 1896-June30, 1927. Named by Silas Hiflin, first postmaster, for his home town of Oakman, AL.

OOLITE: 3 miles NE of Fitzhugh. Post office May 1, 1906 and changed to Lawrence June 27, 1907. Took its name from the OK Oolite Stone Company.

PICKETT: 5 miles west of Ada. Post office Jan. 27, 1913-Jan. 15, 1916. First known as Center Switch. Took its name from the Pickett Store, so named because of a well cared for picket fence.

ROFF: 12 miles S.W. of Ada. Post office June 14, 1890. Named for Joseph T. Roff, rancher.

STEEDMAN: Formerly Blackrock. 11 miles NE of Ada. First known as Ford Switch. Post office changed to Steedman Jan. 19, 1910 and discontinued Feb. 15, 1932. Named for E.L.Steed, an Ada buisnessman.

Stonewall: Located in eastern part of county, 13 miles S.E. of  Ada. Original site was at the location of present day Frisco. Post office established in 1874. Named for General T. J. Stonewall Jackson.

TYROLA: N. Pontotoc Co. 10 miles north of Ada. Post office May 4, 1896-April 15, 1922. Name was in reference to the Tyrol. a region in Austria.

VANOSS: W. Pontotoc Co. 10 miles west of Ada. Post office Jan. 2, 1908. Named for S.F. Vanoss, a director of OK Central Railroad.

VICTOR: 5 miles south of Harden City. Post office Feb. 21, 1894-April 4, 1899. No linger in existence. Named for Alfred Victor, resident.

YORK: S.W. Pontotoc Co.. 6 miles east of Hickory. Post office Aug. 17, 1894-April 30, 1914. No longer in existence. Named for Joseph F. York, first postmaster.
 

Hart, Oklahoma

Hart, 3 miles southwest of Vanoss. Had a post office from June 28,1894 to Sept. 30, 1920. It was named for John A. Hart, the first postmaster.
Hart was located on the Big Sandy Creek, twenty miles southwest of Ada. The Hart Community was named after John A. Hart, the first postmaster of the area. The Post Office was established June 28, 1894 and served the community until September 30, 1920. Other postmasters throught the years were William S. Lindsay, Daniel F. Estes, India Lindsay and Benjamin C. Davis.
The Hart School board was composed of W.F. Eaves, J.H. Southerland, J.M. Thompson, A.H. White, W.W. Simmons, Grant Johnson, W.B. Hoover, A.L. Griffith, Gilbert Burkhart, H.C. Fillmore, S.S. Summers, and George Wright. The Hart community had two schools, one was located in the downtown area. The other Hart School #2 was built three miles away for the children in the outlying areas. Among the teachers who taught at Hart were; J.A. Bohannon, Phillip McLachian, E. Roper, George Hawkins, B.A. Howard, Mary Nichols, Lou Willie Bradford, Mrs. Sada Lamb, Mrs. Beeler, Ida Mae Wilson, Reuben Wilson, Lilla Wilson, Bernice Bradford, Maude Southerland, Annice Hardin, C.B. Tiffin, W.V. Stanfield, J.C. Potts, Opal Morgan, Jewell
Morgan, Tillman Morgan, James E. Rogers, Dovie Lynch, Stella Collier, Lula Hull, Velma Stanfield, Cleo Huffines, William O. Huffines, Nell Bunyard, Thelma Smith, Willena Jenks. Mrs. and Mrs. A.W. Brown, John B. and Ruby Holmes, Mrs Hassell Brown, Ambrose H. White. Rosa Jane Wright(student aid). The Hart School close April 9, 1949.
Physicians who served the Hart community were Dr. Tucker, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Davis, Dr. J.A. Upshaw, Dr. J.W. Herman. In 1901 there were two drug stores managed by S.C. Davis, Mr. Hart, Mr. Hall. In 1902 S.C.(Samuel Colbert, son of John L. Davis and Harriet Fulsom) Davis was the only one in operation with Hart having a population of 150 with four General Stores, Childress and Wright, Coulson Brothers, Thomas Harvey, and Hall and Lindsay, Mr. J.W. Hart had a grocery store which later was owned by J.A. McConnel, Hall and Lindsay and Williams and Son. But by 1918 the population was 32 and only one general store which was operated by Davis and Watson.
The people of Hart got their news from the newspapers of Roff. which was first published in 1901. It was called the Roff Tribune, published by Joseph T. Roff. I.G. Douglas published the paper in 1902-1903 and sold it to J.C. Winn. Winn sold it to Parson Caves who changed the nameto the Roff Trademark. In 1905 John Casteel was the owner and editor, his co-editor was John Duran and in 1906 the editor and publisher was George H. Phillips. Roff Enterprise which was change by 1909 to The Roff Oklahoma Eagle with William Felter as the editor and manager. The paper was published every Thursday and sold for one dollar a year. In
1920 W.T. Morris became the publisher and the name became The Roff Eagle. In 1926 Leonard Crowder puchased the paper and renamed it The Blue Valley Farmer. The next owner was L.N. Sheldon. In 1933 with John R. Thacker as editor and owner the the Roff newspaper became The Roff Herald..

The only thing that is left in Hart is the cemetery. The cemetery is taken care of by donations from the relatives of people buried there. Each Spring there is a clean-up.

Note: Sharon Burnett Crawford
People who lived in the Hart community: W.G. Walls, J.H. Southerland, Henry C. Fillmore, J.M. Thompson, N.M. Hays, William Tabor, Andrew J. Wright, C.W. Posey, Ben Franklin Burnett, W.F. Eaves, Ben Allen, Charley Rogers, India Lindsey, Roy Thompson, Howard Stewart, Mrs. R.H. Pirtle, G. W. Lunsford, J.J. Hart, Rufus M. Burnett.  
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Center, Oklahoma

Center; Sec.19 T4N R5E, 8 miles west of Ada on Highway 19.
Post Office June 9, 1890-Feb.15, 192?,
Newspapers Center Expositor, Center News, First Baptist Banner.
Center was formed in the mid 1880's and by the mid 1890's had became the leading town in what is now Pontotoc Co. with a population of more than five hundred. On March 1, 1900 most of the businesses on the west side, including the courthouse, burned. Also, when the railroad from Ada to Purcell passed to the south of Center other businesses moved to the towns being established by the railroad. Center now has one store and a few houses.

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Conway, Oklahoma
Section6, Township 3N, R8 East
Early History of Conway, by H.D. Ragland
Conway, a little community located in the eastern part of Pontotoc Co., was named for Conway, MO. The first post office was established August 22, 1896 with Wade H. ALLISON as the first postmaster.  The office remained there for some eighteen years when it was discontinued on April 30, 1914.
Early business establishments, as shown by in 1901 were a general merchandise store operated by E. B. ALLISON and a mill and gin ran by R. L. and J. D. PRICE.
All that was left of the trading post by 1936 was a little church located about one half mile west of  the former village and the Conway school house located about one half mile northwest of the church .
When first established the trading post was on the road from Stonewall to Allen, and located in Pontotoc Co., Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, with the county seat at Stonewall. After dividing the I.T. into Recording districts in 1903 Conway was in district 16 with court town at Ada.
Schools: Conway School & High Hill School

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Francis, Oklahoma Photo of Francis Depot about 1915

Francis; Sec. 29 T5N R7E
Post office. Francis was originally called Newton April 17, 1894-June 5,1902. Called Francis from June 5, 1902 to present day. Newspapers, Francis Wigwam, Franciscan, Francis Banner, Francis Bulletin, Frisco Meteor, Frances Herald.
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Vanoss, Oklahoma
by Wanda Berger Parish: Abstracted from the 1980 Pontotoc Co. Quarterly
The Good Old Days of Vanoss
Christian A. BERGER was born in 1904 just west of Vanoss and was the first son of Charles L and Ida Hill Berger. Vanoss was established in 1908 and Charles L BERGER was a merchant there from the beginning and become postmaster there in 1914. He remained in these positions until his death in 1940, at which time Christian A. BERGER stepped into his father's footsteps, and he too was a merchant and the postmaster at Vanoss until his death in 1969.
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Updated on 11/29/11

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