Historical Photo Gallery of Konawa, Oklahoma

Pictures and information provided by Arthur Kennedy, PhD.

Dr. Arthur Kennedy has written several volumes on the history of the Konawa area. Anyone interested in this history would be well advised to consult these books. They can be found in the reference section of the Kennedy Library of Konawa and are available for purchase. We would like to thank Dr. Kennedy for permission to use these photos and for the interviews from which the text on this page was drawn.

Commerce

The Eastes Sawmill, shown in this photo, was most likely steam powered. Note the use of cattle in transport. Of special interest is the white, two-story building in the background which appears just above the peak of the engine room and to the right of the stack in the center-left of the photo. This is the only known picture of Konawa's first school building. This school building was constructed in 1904 with a two-story addition in 1905 due to the large number of students. During it's first year, the Konawa School administrators decided on a mission of preparing students for university entrance. Konawa School pre-dates what is now East Central University in Ada by five years. Konawa was originally in Indian Territory. Three years later, we were part of the State of Oklahoma.

Collins Meat Market, around 1918, was the first in Konawa to have any kind of refrigeration. Are you old enough to remember having the iceman deliver ice to your home icebox? The first icehouse in Konawa was located near where you'll find McClure's and Philler-Upper today. The Collins Meat Market was first located in the southern end of Broadway. Later the market moved next to the present Sooner State Bank. The only grocery in Konawa today is Streetman's Grocery. We count ourselves lucky to have such a complete and convenient store in our town.

Next to the lumber mill was the grist-mill where corn was processed. Both were located one block east of Broadway on the railroad tracks. Like most rural towns of the time, Konawa had an economy based on agriculture and was a very busy place during harvest seasons. Today, working residents make daily commutes to jobs in Ada, Shawnee, or even Oklahoma City.

At left is an 1873 survey which shows going from East to West the original wagon road to the gold fields of California. Click on this map to view a larger version. Some remnants of this road can still be found just north of Konawa. The road which is shown going North-East passed through the location of one of the first settlements in the area, a whiskey village on the North banks of the South Canadian River named Meanko, named for the Potowatami man, George L Young, who owned the land there. There were eleven saloons in this one small town at Young's Crossing on the South Canadian. This second road is where Father Robot and the Benedictine nuns traveled Northward to found Sacred Heart Church and Mission. Jim Thorpe's mother is buried at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.

Banks

The First National Bank, presently Sooner State Bank building, is shown in the upper picture at right, circa 1931. The lower photo shows the Oklahoma State Bank Building, which was directly across the street. Oklahoma State bank is currently knows as BancFirst and housed in a new building several blocks south. Neither building is recognizable today and the First National Bank building lost the upper story during the tornado of 1963 and the Oklahoma State Bank building was torn down. As small part of the Oklahoma State Bank, however, is preserved in the Historical Museum in Oklahoma City. There you can find the original teller window and other items of interest. The original Joe Ford store is seen next to the Oklahoma State bank in the lower photo. This store was later purchased by the Adwon family, who lived in the back of the store until around 1932. Sadie Adwon, a well known Oklahoma journalist, was the first female CEO of a television station, KTUL. Sadie made a bequest in her will which has made many scholarships possible for Konawa graduates through the years. Some interesting history regarding the "Green Corn Rebellion" and the IWW took place in Konawa. In a fanciful dream of taking over the US government, these men were going to start by taking over small towns. The town fathers defended themselves with shotguns in front of these banks. The rebels were eventually apprehended by federal agents in Sasawka. There was once a well in the middle of the road here for watering horses.

Here is a picture of downtown Konawa in 1929. The First National Bank building is on the far left. Notice the parking spaces in the middle of the street. Konawa used to be a pretty busy little town. Now most of the business has moved to Ada. The water tower in the background is still standing today, but is no longer in use. It would sure be nice to have those old street lamps back in place today.

Hotels

The Duncan family built the Konawa Hotel in 1904. There were four hotels in Konawa at one time. The Oxford and the Rock Hotels have been nearly forgotten. The people on the porch were most likely waiting on the train as the depot was across the street. Today, the post office is located on the site of a hotel which, in its day, had a very luxurious banquet hall that would seat about one hundred.

Transportation

A very popular place for picnics and courting was the South Canadian River. Here we see some early citizens posing on the railroad bridge which was south of Konawa. Later, the presence of the railroad was pivotal in the selection of Konawa as the site of O.G. & E. Seminole Power Plant since the railroad was used to transport the generators and large parts during the construction of the plant in the early 1970's. Notice the two sets of tracks on the bridge. The older, narrow-gauge tracks in the middle had not been used for many years when this photograph was made. Trains whistles are not heard in Konawa anymore. When a flood destroyed this bridge, the fate of the railroad was sealed.

Steam trains sounded their lonesome whistle when passing through town. It's a sound that, once you've heard it, you'll never forget. The only place you can ride a steam train today is likely to be at a tourist attraction. If you do get the chance to ride one, take it. Then imagine steam trains crossing the prairies and mountains, taking travelers and commerce on their way across the American West. The Katy, or MKT, service through Konawa was not very profitable and changed to electric bud cars providing passenger and mail service through the 1930's and 1940's. The depot was just about new in this photo. McClures Phillips 66 Station is found today very near where this depot once stood.

Years have passed and the new is gone from the depot, but as the sign says, you could still get a ticket in Konawa to Oklahoma City or Atoka. There are far fewer rails in the country today, trucks and airplanes carry what trains once did, and Konawa lost it's rail service in the 1970's. That part of our history is gone, but it is not forgotten. Some folks still think they hear that distant steam whistle now and again.

Oxen are pulling a boiler in this scene, very likely to the Hammond Cotton Gin. This gin would have been on the east side of the block containing the current post office. In the background of this photo is another of Konawa's Hotels.

This picture shows Broadway Street in Konaw sometime before 1910, before the automobile became common. Note the cotton bales left in the street and the team hauling bales to town. This view is looking north. In the center of the photo you can see the original Church of Christ building which faced north.

Society

The Foley sisters. This photo is an example of several photos in the collection illustrating the styles of the period from 1880 to 1950. There are examples in volumes two through five of "They Came from Everywhere." There was a millinery factory that started in Violet with a sub store in Vista - both were later moved to Konawa. Semiannual shows featured the new fashions which attracted visitors from the train line. As a footnote, many people have an image of Oklahomans as being behind the rest of the nation in social and economic factors. This is a misconception. For example, Oklahoma and Iowa lead the nation in cars for capita for the first fifteen years of auto manufacturing.

H ere is a photo of Maurice Dye in a croquet court which set south of the Methodist Church on the southeast corner of Madison and Fourth Street. The croquet yard was very popular with the community of that day. The photo, circa late teens or early twenties, shows the original Methodist Church which was built around 1904. Prior to this date, the congregation met in the school. Fourth Street was originally designed to be a main residential thoroughfare, which explains its width even today. The original Baptist Church was located at Fourth and Elm, while the Church of Christ was at Fourth and State.

O ral Busby had prepped privately with two of the lawyers in town and some of the local teachers. When the citizens of Konawa wanted Oral as their mayor, he had to wait until his twenty-first before he could accept the position. He was a teacher at Blair School and his family home was on State Street. When the family moved to Ada, Oral Busby continued to prosper in politics and was best known as a key figure in state politics. The Busby family owned a drug store directly across from the original city hall.

Old timers would remember Dorothy as Mable Huddleston's youngest sister. Dorothy graduated from Konawa Public Schools in the 1920's. This photograph is another excellent example of fashions of the period. UPDATE! We would like to thank Shannon Damron Schrempp for her letter of December 16, 2002, helping us correct information regarding this and the following picture. Shannon is the grand daughter of O.T. Damron, Sr., who owned the Oklahoma State Bank until he died in the early sixties. Her father was O.T. Damron,Jr. 'Dorothy Blair married Thomas Carter and lived in Dallas until she died' a few years ago. We had previously misidentified Dorothy as having been in the picture below.

T hanks to Ms. Schrempp, we now know much more about this photograph, which has always been a prized family picture: 'This is a photo of my great aunts and great grandparents. My grandmother was Gladys Blair Damron. She is the little girl sitting on Poppa Blair's lap.' 'The two girls standing are Cary and Bessie, the girl standing between is Mable Blair Huddleston. If memory serves me, Cary died as a young woman. Bessie married a gentleman named Frank and lived in Ada until she died quite a few years ago.' Dr. Kennedy told us that the portrait was probably from around 1905 and that the Blair family were noted muscians in the community. Blair school was located west of the present school and just inside Potowatame County. The Fiddler Orchard is in this location. Located at the end of the road going south was the location of the famous Corner Saloon.

Things change. There is no stopping the march of time, but some things seem to remain the same. The people of Konawa used to help their neighbors. They still do today. The used to care about each other. That's no different in the new millenium. This picture notes the end of the open range. The date of the picture is unknown, but it could have been as late as the 1920's. The men in the photograph are surveying and constructing a road in the Konawa area. They didn't know it, but there would be an oil boom in few years. After that, open range would be nearly a part of history. The only open range near Konawa today is a small area north of Salt Creek near Vamoosa. The land has changed, the economy has changed, the problems and opportunities for rural Americans are very different of those from the turn of the last century. But Konawa is still a good place to live, a good place to raise your family, and a good place to visit. Come see us.