NEOLA POST OFFICE AND COMMUNITY

CADDO COUNTY

Neola school class of 1909-10

By Mrs. Neola (Horton) Akin

Mr. Louis S. Andrews of Route 3, Anadarko, Oklahoma, who was born across the road from Neola store and post office in 1908, states that the Neola Post Office was named for me.(1) My father, Edwin C. Horton, was a member of the school board from the time of organization of Neola School District in Caddo County for many years.

My mother was Ester (Kinblade) Horton, my sisters were Mary and Ruth, and I had two brothers, Harry and Frederick. Frederick was always called "Dick." Our family came from McPherson, Kansas to the Neola community, 10 miles southeast of Carnegie, Oklahoma, in 1902. My father bought a 160 acre homestead which is the northwest quarter of section 14, T 6 N, R 13 W, I.M. He built a one-room house in which the family lived until 1903, when a second room was added. I was not born at this time, but I have heard the family talk of these early days, many times. We had lots of Indians for neighbors. One Indian family, named Frizzlehead, were our good friends and neighbors. Other Indians didn't seem to care too much for their white neighbors in the early days.

Neola School District was organized in 1902. My brother, Dick, and my sisters, Mary and Ruth, attended the first school held at Neola. Some of the families who had children in the Neola school were: The Hartmans, Jones, Braltons, Campbells, Dyers, Horton and Schoolings. Some families who came later were: the B. Evetts, Unruhs, and Nightingales. Mr. R. N. Schooling and his wife, Ida who lived near the Neola school, had a store and post office in one room of their home. The school, store and post office served as center for the Neola community.

In 1912 the Neola school building was rebuilt. Mr. Maxson from Carnegie, Oklahoma, was the carpenter who built the new Neola School. I grew up and married Butch Akin and we live in the Alden Community west of Old Neola.

(1) George H. Shirk, OKLAHOMA PLACE NAMES, (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1965), p 148, Neola, . . Named for Neola Schooling, daughter of R. N. Schooling, first postmaster.

Neola Post Office established February 17, 1902, Ruben N. Schooling, Postmaster. Discontinued September 30, 1910, mail to Fort Cobb. Postal Records. Ed .

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This page last updated Saturday, November 16, 2024