Poteau had remained a sleepy little agricultural village until the late 1880’s. Once the railroad to Bengal was completed in 1886, the area immediately saw a building boom. Poteau didn’t gain official status until the following year when, on October 27th, the first post office in town was established. The new town, officially known as […]
Poteau River Flood: A Tale of Wister, Oklahoma
Historic Flooding of the Poteau River Prior to the 1946 Wister Lake Project, the Poteau River has had a history of major flooding throughout the region. Some of the earliest recorded stories go back to the mid-1800s. After the Civil War ended in 1865, southeast Oklahoma became known as “Little Dixie”. Confederate veterans flocked here […]
The Legacy of the Black Angus in Poteau, Oklahoma
A Small Town Named Poteau During the 1950s and 1960s, the small town of Poteau was booming. Downtown, you could do anything from your routine grocery shopping to catching the latest flick at the Victory, Ritz, or Kemp theater. In 1952, a new drive-in theater was built on Broadway, which became an instant hit. Occasionally, […]
Taylor’s Inn in Poteau: Little Dixie’s Music Mecca
Taylor’s Inn Oklahoma is well known for its music history, from Cain’s Ballroom to Shelter Records’ Church Studio. During the 1920s, Greenwood became known as America’s Black Wall Street. Located just outside Tulsa at the time, this Black Wall Street was where the legendary Count Basie first encountered jazz music. While most of these facts […]
The Port of Catoosa and the Poteau River Navigation Project: A Legacy of Robert S. Kerr
Strange fact: The Port of Catoosa is one of the largest, most inland river ports in the entire 25,000 miles of U.S. inland river system. This port originated because of a vision that Sen. Robert S. Kerr had for Oklahoma. He wanted to see a series of inland ports scattered throughout Oklahoma. The goal of […]
The Great Train Robbery of 1912 in Poteau, Oklahoma
A Bold Robbery Poteau, Oklahoma, was still a wild and rugged place even after the territory officially became a state. While this story can be repeated many times throughout Oklahoma, it really shows how rural areas were still very much stuck in the old days of the Wild, Wild West. It was a clear, chilly morning […]
The Tushka Lusa Institute; a “lost” Freedmen Academy
Six miles east of Talihina Oklahoma, buried somewhere underneath a century or more of brush an overgrowth, the remains of the foundation of Tushka Lusa Academy can still be found for those who are willing to seek it out. Tushka Lusa, whose translation means “black warrior” can be called one of the long forgotten schools […]
How to Host a Large Event: Primer and Tools
Planning a Big Event Hosting a large event takes a lot of time, effort, and money. It is a daunting task and one that can fill a person with dread and anxiety. Still, if done right and with the proper planning, large events can turn in to huge fundraisers and create a lot of excitement […]
A New Look at Transportation
“If you ever plan to motor west; Travel my way, take the highway that is best; Get your kicks on Route sixty six..” Using a twelve-bar blues arrangement, this famous song by Bobby Troup epitomizes our love with the automobile. The war had just ended and suburbia became utopia. Growth and prosperity were the buzzwords […]
Rural Life, Jobs, and Business Growth: A Look into the Future of How We Do Business
The nature of business has changed. Twenty years ago, you could reasonably expect most businesses to have the majority of their departments under one roof. It was rare that segments were outsourced, especially in smaller businesses. You could find everything from accounting to your IT guy just down the hall. Today, even in smaller businesses, […]