Ghostowns

NW Oklahoma Ghost Towns

by - cub-reporter, Rod Murrow

A little bit of additional information, after my first (and very brief) visit to the Alfalfa County Museum and Historical Society in Cherokee... I'll be back for further searching, though. Indeed, the info below is accurate (Augusta's location), but somewhat incomplete. All of this (and many other towns current and past) came from a little publication 'Town & Place Locations' published by the Oklahoma Department of Highways, revised 1-31-1975.

This is the URL for the Woods County Map from an atlas in 1895. The Woods County originally included Alfalfa County as well, because the next eastern boundary shows Waukomis and Enid. This clearly shows it as 'Woods' and not 'M.'"

The Complete Description of...

AUGUSTA - Alfalfa County, Section 5, Township 24N, Range 12W (located a mile west of Carmen, had a post office from 1895 to 1912.);
ZULA - Woods County, Section 11, Township 27N, Range 13E; (Zula, located 3 1/2 miles north of present day Dacoma was the first Post Office.)
EAGLE CHIEF - Alfalfa County, Section 5, Township 24N, Range 12W (established in 1894, it lasted a year and then merged with nearby Augusta.);
CLYMER - Woods County, Section 18, Township 24N, Range 13W;
DACOMA - Woods County, Section 11, Township 25N, Range 13W (This info is from Oakie's site ) -- "Homer was the name of the pump station for the railroad, but the name "Homer" was already taken, so "Dakoma" was chosen. Due to a clerical error, "Dacoma" was recorded. Promoters from Fayetteville, Arkansas, with A. F. Wolfe as it representative formed the "Dakoma Town Co.", purchased land and planned the town. Dakoma was located in the E/2 of Section 11 T25N-R13W on the original claims of Frank Kimberline and Nathan Dedman (both negroes). Blocks were platted and a locust tree planted in the corner of each block. The last locust tree was chopped down in 1977. The Lots sold for $30 each." )

Quoting from an article written by Chuck Belknap (no date, and his "real" name is Charles, nickname is Chuck) about the history of Carmen... [my notes are in brackets...]

"Carmen might be said to date back to the opening of the Cherokee Outlet, commonly known as The Strip, when a few men made the race in the heart of Woods County, secured claims, and established a little trading post called Eagle Chief [see legal location above], within one-half mile of the limits of the present city of Carmen.

Eagle Chief consisted of one store, one residence and one blacksmith shop, and upon application for a post office they found they could not procure one under the name of Eagle Chief on account of another of the same name, so the post office was given the name of Augusta, and it, together with the store and blacksmith shop, were soon moved one mile northwest onto a forty-acre tract which was proved up for townsite purposes."

"Augusta soon grew from a little trading post and post office into a thriving little village where nearly all branches of business were represented. The growth was steady and the town soon filled with a class of business men whose energies coupled with the conservativeness made it a trade center for miles around. Mr. Stilwell [note: President of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad, mentioned earlier in this article] was persuaded to locate their railroad line through Woods County and establish a town site within two miles of Augusta.

The same energetic group which made Augusta prosperous turned their attention to this new town, which received the name of Carmen." [article continues with development of Carmen] [article concludes this way... I think he is describing Carmen, not Augusta --RCM.] "The new town of Augusta opened Dec. 18, 1900 with the sale of lots on the main line of the Orient R.R. Prices of the lots ran $500 for corner business lots, next to the corner was $450, inside lots $400, etc. Residence lots ran $50 to $250 according to location. This was the first town to be located on the new Orient Railroad. The first day of the sale 125 lots were sold for the amount of $50,000." [the old Orient depot is still there, with a caboose...I think they intended to create some kind of historical society/museum operation, but it didn't get off the ground]

Also, in the same collection was a newspaper article, no paper name nor date included, that mentioned the closing of the RR station on Friday, May 13, 1983. It includes these comments: "The historical significance of the structure [the depot building] can be realized by taking into account that it was the first depot in Oklahoma on the Orient Railroad and was given the name "Carmen" in commemoration of the wife of Mexico/s President Diaz."

"The first train steamed into Carmen in March of 1903 bearing railroad President Arthur Stillwell, Vice-President Dickinson and other railroad officials" [the name Stilwell/Stillwell, spelled two ways in these two documents. For what it's worth, STILLWELL is the spelling by the newspaper, STILWELL is the spelling by Chuck Belknap --RCM.]

Finally, in an article in the Enid Morning News, Sunday, Sep 25, 1988 (page A-4) under the heading "Windows on the Past," is an article by Bill Edson mentioning the origins of towns in Alfalfa County, which might lead you to some new ghost town names as well... "Augusta -- located a mile west of Carmen, had a post office from 1895 to 1912." & "Eagle Chief -- established in 1894, it lasted a year and then merged with nearby Augusta."

Other town names in this article: Alger, Aline, Alvaretta, Amorita, Ashley, Auburn, Burlington, Byron, Carmen, Carwile, Cherokee, Clay, Driftwood, Drumm, Elkton, Friends, Goltry, Helena, Ingersoll, Jet, Karoma, Keith, Knowlton, Lambert, Lonetree, McWillie, Marion, Mendon, Milan, Needs, Oxford, Roundgrove, Short Springs, Springs, Timberlake, Vance, Vining, Yewed (named for Admiral George Dewey, hero of the Spanish American War, they spelled his name backwards. It had a post office from 1898 to 1952).

The others have brief descriptions, too. As far as she knew, the woman who was in charge of the museum didn't know of any photos taken at Augusta, at least to her knowledge. Further, there was a newspaper in Augusta, albeit only briefly, and I'm not sure if copies exist anywhere or not. The Oklahoma Historical Society has a big microfilm library of OK newspapers and mentions this one.... and the Cherokee Library has copies of old Alfalfa County papers on microfilm... but neither the museum NOR the library has a microfilm reader. Lots of film, but no way to read it.

List of Ghost Towns --
Enid Morning News, 9-25-88

ALVARETTA - named for Alvaretta Wriglty, daughter of the first postmaster, was south of Goltry.
AMORITA - named for Amorita Ingersoll, wife of the president of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway.
ASHLEY - originally Short Springs and changed to Ashley in 1897. Six months later, the post office was discontinued.
AUBURN - named for Auburn, KY. It had a post office between 1894 and 1903.
AUGUSTA - Alfalfa County, Section 5, Township 24N, Range 12W.
BURLINGTON - originally located 12 miles north of Cherokee where it had a post office from 1900 to 1902. In 1907 the post office at nearby Drumm changed its name to Burlington. It is believed named for Burlington, IA.
BYRON - post office established in 1894. The town was named after Byron Spurrier, a relative of the first postmaster.
CARMEN - established in 1901. The name of the town was a trade-off between Arthur Stilwell, who owned the Orient Railroad, and Mexican President Porfirio Diaz. Stilwell named a town in Oklahoma for Diaz' wife, Carmen Romero Rubio de Diaz, and Diaz renamed Topolobampo, proposed western terminus of the railroad, Port Stilwell. [wouldn't this be Avard?? rcm]
CARWILE - located five miles south of Helena, it had a post office from 1894 to 1905. Named for James D. Carwile, an early settler.
CHEROKEE - took its name from the Cherokee Outlet, also called the Cherokee Strip.
CLAY - located near Clay Creek, a tributary of the Salt Fork River. It existed from 1894 to 1902.
DRIFTWOOD - named for nearby Driftwood Creek. Its first post office was in 1894 and, although it stil exists today, thepost office closed in 1959.
DRUMM - named for Major Andrew Drumm, an early day rancher. In 1907 the name was changed to Burlington and a few years later some of the residents tried unsuccessfully to change it again, this time to Wheaton.
EAGLE CHIEF - Alfalfa County, Section 5, Township 24N, Range 12W
ELKTON - eight miles south of Cherokee, it had a post office from 1899 to 1909.
FRIENDS - took its name from the Stella Friends Academy where the post office was located from 1899 to 1901.
GOLTRY - was first called Karoma and located a mile southeast of the present town. In 1904 the name was changed to Goltry after a local businessman, Charles Goltry.
HELENA - named for Helen S. Monroe, first postmaster, in 1894.
INGERSOLL - located four miles northwest of Cherokee, had a post office from 1901 to 1942. It was named for C. E. Ingersoll, a Philadelphia railroad official.
JET - its post office was established in 1894 and the town named after the local miller, W. M. Jett, who became the first postmaster.
KAROMA - established in 1894, the name was changed to Goltry in 1904.
KEITH - located seven miles northwest of Ingersoll, it was named for Charles Keith, first postmaster, in 1894. It closed in 1904.
KNOWLTON - named for first postmaster, George Knowlton, in 1901. It lasted three years.
LAMBERT - founded by Ambrose Lambert, it had a post office from 1901 to 1952.
LONETREE - four miles northeast of Amorita from 1895 to 1902, is was named for a nearby cottonwood tree.
McWILLIE - six miles west of Helena, had a post office from 1910 to 1934.
MARION - located near Ingersoll, it existed from 1897 to 1901.
MENDON - three miles east of Byron, had a post office from 1897 to 1910.
MILAN - northeast of Helena, had a post office from 1895 to 1902. NEEDS - near Byron, had a post office from 1896 to 1900. OXFORD - had a post office from 1898 to 1903.
ROUNDGROVE - had a post office from 1894 to 1901.
SHORT SPRINGS - named for George Short, first postmaster. In 1897 the name was changed to Ashley.
SPRINGS - named for the springs along Sandy Creek, it had a post office from 1895 to 1904.
TIMBERLAKE - northeast of Helena. The post office closed in 1905.
VANCE - named for Carrie Vance, postmaster from 1895 to 1898 when it closed.
VINING - 12 miles east of Cherokee, it had a post office from 1914 to 1930. Named for the many trumpet vines growing in the area.
YEWED - named for Admiral George Dewey, hero of the Spanish American War, they spelled his name backwards. It had a post office from 1898 to 1952.