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Woodland Queen
Dr. J. C. W. Bland, a physician from Red Fork, came to the area induced by the promise that the Frisco Railroad would build a depot in the vicinity. John Eagan, part owner of a trading post near Kellyville, was also one of the earliest founders of the townsite. The Indians referred to the settlement as "Chaska Talfa," meaning Oak Town. In 1897 the Frisco Railroad started extending its line from Sapulpa to Oklahoma City. Early in the year of 1889, the railroad was completed to a point about two miles northeast of "Woodland Queen." In March 1889 C. O. Crane, a general merchant from Sapulpa, established the first general store near the northwest corner of what was later to become the intersection of 6th and Main Streets. In was in this house on August 11, 1889 that his daughter, Bessie Crane, was born. She was the first white child born in Woodland Queen. Tom Flynn build a store and Ben Ayers put up his tent and sold "Semco Mead" (plain beer). Shortly afterward a blacksmith shop appeared under the trees a short distance too the north. Overnight a business section was established. Through the efforts of General J. L. Bristow, Fourth Assistant Postmaster General at the time the local post office was established. C. O. Crane was appointed the first postmaster. The first mail was received in Woodland Queen on May 30, 1883, Memorial Day. Mr. Crain carried the mail to and from Sapulpa by horseback until late October. The mail was then transported by train. Huber Self and Melvin Self, Growing Up in Indian Territory (Manhattan, Kan. : Ag Press, 1985), 65, 66.
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