Keeping the Historic

My paternal grandmother's house in Claremore, Oklahoma was a lovely old house and I have good memories of childhood days there. It was built during the turn of the century; yellow brick, one story, high ceilings, stone stairs, a screened-in front porch with a swing, a large central diningroom with a floor gas heater, a parlour with another gas heater, a breakfast room and large kitchen in the back of the house, three bedrooms, one bath - clawfoot tub. It was given as a gift to my grandmother from her parents. The address was 500 N Muskogee, walking distance to downtown.

My grandfather had died in an oil field accident when my father was seven years old. My grandmother never married again. She went to school and got a teacher's certificate and worked as an elementary schoolteacher for most of the rest of her life.

There were fun times at my grandmother's: lightning bugs were in abundance during those days, running and jumping and playing while my parents and grandmother sat on the porch talking. Later my brother joined me in the fun. We'd go to my grandmother's church occasionally. My grandmother was a great cook ~ her specialty being fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, pie and tea. She would always buy me six Baby Ruth candy bars for 25 cents and meter them out to me over a few weeks when I would stay with her sometimes. She was born in El Reno, Oklahoma during the second Oklahoma land rush. She died in her ninetys.

Now the old house is being torn down as well as all of the others in the neighborhood for a new development. That's a shame.