Commerce

... Commerce

Vintage photo of Commerce, Oklahoma, Photo courtesy Ottowa County, Oklahoma.

Let's have a look at... Vinita

Although Vinita is best known for our events celebrating our western heritage, a variety of festivals and celebrations dot the calendar year-round. From early spring downtown street markets to the traditional Dickens’ Christmas events and the plethora of fun in between Vinita has a little fun for everyone.

Our community gathers for several events throughout the year, including many hosted in our community parks or in our downtown business district. However, things really heat up in late August and September as we show off our western heritage and love for the cowboy lifestyle.

The Annual Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo has been attracting visitors to Vinita for over 71 years. The rodeo was first suggested by Will Rogers in 1934 and is named in memorial to him. Cowboys, Cowgirls and the curious flock to the American Legion Rodeo Complex every August to see the action.

The rodeo is followed by the “Big Country Weekend” and the World’s Largest Calf Fry Festival and Cook-off held in September.
Thousands gather each year to experience the unique celebration, which includes free daytime entertainment, cowboy games, children’s activities and games, arts & crafts, and the consumption of nearly 2,000 lbs. of calf fries.
Extra spice is added to the event with our Discovery Tour Bull Riding competition sponsored by Gene Owen Bucking Bulls. View a slide show of our event here >>.

Summerside Vineyards has special events going on year round. Monthly art exibts and concerts are events you won't want to miss.

Check out the calendar of events for more detailed dates and times for the many festivals and activities hosted in Vinita.

Chandler

Nestled among the rolling hills in the heart of Oklahoma, Chandler was founded after the 1891 Land Rush. 
When almost one million acres of land, formerly owned by the Sac and Fox, Iowa, Pottawatomie and Shawnee Indian tribes, was opened for homesteading on September 22, 1891, hundreds of settlers lined the borders of what was then called County A. 
At a signal given by the military, the pioneers rushed to stake their claims. 

The town site of Chandler was surveyed by the government and set aside for public use just six days after opening of the county. 
Comprising an area of about one square mile, the up and coming town was named in honor of George Chandler, the First Assistant Secretary of the Interior under President Harrison.

In October, 1891 the first county officials were appointed by the governor.  In its first general election held on November 8, 1892, the county received an official name – Lincoln, and elected its own county officers. 
Soon a two-story framed courthouse was built on the town square. 
The small settlement quickly grew with several businesses developing along the main street area including hotels, several saloons, stores and other establishments.

From its beginning until the mid-1920’s, the production of cotton and related activities were the most important sources of income for the citizens of Chandler.
Beginning at the age six, children learned to pick cotton.
Many continued this throughout their lives. Full attendance at school for older children could not be expected before mid-November, after the entire cotton crop was harvested. 

A cottonseed oil factory was located at the end of Allison Avenue and 15th Street where oil was made from the cottonseeds not used for planting the next year’s crop.
The cotton oil mill sounded a loud whistle twice a day; at the change of the work shifts.
The sharp whistle could be heard throughout the town, at exactly 12 noon and 12 midnight. For many it was their only clock.

On March 30, 1897, young Chandler would suffer a devastating blow when a tornado completely wiped out the business area and many of the new homes constructed near it.  
 Within a just a few minutes, every building that lay within a four-block-wide area was leveled.
Fourteen people were killed and scores of others injured.

Chandler’s other major source of income was the growing cattle industry which soon prompted the development of railroads.
The Oklahoma City-Sapulpa branch of the Frisco was the first railroad constructed across Lincoln County.
These 103 miles of railroad were completed in December, 1898.
Other railroads built across parts of the county during the years 1902, 1903 and 1904, including the Santa Fe, Rock Island, Missouri-Kansas-Texas and Fort Smith-Western.

Arcadia

Arcadia, Oklahoma - Home of the Round Barn

Before long, you come to Arcadia, Oklahoma, home of the famous 1898 round barn, the most photographed building on all of Route 66.

The brainchild of William Harrison Odor, locals scoffed at the idea of a round barn, but Odor soaked green lumber in water, then shaped the raters to form the exact curve of the roof.  
When is masterpiece was complete, he utilized the lower level to store his hay and shelter cattle and mules, while the upper level was used for barn dances and social gatherings.

By the 1980's the barn had begun to suffer from years of neglect when it was donated to the Arcadia Historical and Preservation  Society in an effort to save it.  Before long a man named Luther Robinson, a retired building contractor from Oklahoma City, restored the barn with the help of a volunteer group known as the “Over-the-Hill-Gang.” 

Arcadia also provides a number of other picturesque opportunities at HillBillee’s BBQ as you first enter this small town.
  This was once the home of an original Route 66 Gas Station, Café and Motor Court. 
Legend has it that in the early years of Route 66, the motor court would even provide a “companion” for male travelers. 
Another historic building in Arcadia, that of Tuton's Drugstore, can be found at 1st & Main.

As you continue along the Mother Road, you’ll soon enter the outskirts of Edmond, Oklahoma, and the suburbs of sprawling, Oklahoma City.

Hillbillee's BBQ in Arcadia, Oklahoma,

May, 2004, Kathy Weiser

Oklahoma City

more to come soon...