Okie Legacy

Alva Pioneer 1904

(Information from the 1904 Souvenir Edition - of the Alva Pioneer, Friday, Jan. 1, 1904, Vol. 11, No. 16, by W. F. Hatfield, Alva, Woods Co., Oklahoma. W. F. Hatfield, Publisher Daily and Weekly Pioneer editor, sold the "Souvenir Edition" in 1904 for 50-Cents. It was printed to celebrate Alva's tenth anniversary since the opening of 1893.)

The First Bridge In Woods County

The first bridge in Woods County was across the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, north side of Alva. The frame work was torn away and the bridge rebuilt 1903. It was also the first bridge in Oklahoma. One across the same river south of Newkirk was buillt by the Santa Fe the same fall this one was in 1886, don't know which one was built first. A new bridge now occupies the site where this old bridge once stood.

The Santa Fe Section House...
(First Frame Building)

The First Postoffice & Postmaster in theCounty

The first post office ever opened in what is now Woods County was at Waynoka in 1892. B. F. Spalding, the Santa Fe station agent there, was the postmaster. The office was established to accomodate the cattlemen who had possession of the country at that time. W. A. Childress was the first station agent, and he was put in charge of the Waynoka station in 1886. Waynoka, up to the time the county was opened for settlement, was one of the greatest cattle shipping points in the world. April 1, 1894, Alva postoffice was made a money order office.

Alva Pioneer 1904 Menu...