Hickory, C.N., I.T.


The community of Hickory was established in the late 1880's and a post office was established sometime before 1893.  The post office was robbed in 1901 and again in 1908.   J.M. Fulton was postmaster.  The people of Hickory was engaged in the farming, ranching and dairy business.  The name was derived from a grove of hickory trees that grew along Mill Creek which runs along the western edge of the town.  I can remember, when I was a kid in the 1950's,  that Mr. & Mrs. Tom Moore owned a store and had the post office across the road from my grandfather's house.  My mother and her nine brothers and sisters were raised in Hickory.  Her parents were Allie & Nora Waggoner.

Oklahoma Ancestry

Old Log Gas Station in Hickory, OK

The area around Hickory is among the most beautiful prairie country in the State.  The Frisco R.R. came through Hickory in 1901 when a spur was built between Sherman, Texas and Sapulpa, near Tulsa.  There were depots built at Roff, Hickory and Scullin.   J.D. Hart was the depot agent.

A school for Indians was established before 1905. The Hickory schools had E. J. Hayes as superintendent.   E. A. Hardee established the first newspaper known as The Hickory Advocate in 1906.  In 1907, the People's Bank opened and C.J. Webster was president with A.J. Snyder the vice president and J.B. Mosley the cashier.  In 1909 four rock businesses were destroyed by fire.  In 1922 the newspaper went out of business. 

The community has several churches including Baptist, the only one remaining, Methodist and Nazarene.  In 1922, a group of citizens pooled their resources to open the first radio station in Murray county.  But the new phenomenon was in such demand that the equipment could not be delivered.  By 1923, Hickory was a major cream shipping center for the state.  The population was 224 in 1940 and only 62 by 1970.  The cemetery is still in use and is very well maintained by the Hickory Cemetery Association.


Dennis Muncrief, November, 2000.