[Quincy]

Hello,

First, thanks to everyone for helping me out in the past. I have posted to this message list before while we were looking to move to the Tulsa area. Oklahomans are really great people.

Well, we finally sold our house here in Massachusetts and we're ready to move. We still have Tulsa as our first choice, but some property came up in Mead, OK, just outside of Durant that is a really good fit for us. There is also a business opportunity for us there so we could make enough money to make a decent living.

Mostly we like to go hiking and swimming with our dogs, ride horses, and sit around a campfire at night. Rarely we will get the urge to go out to dinner or a movie. However, we do like to have decent shopping and a few decent restaurants with vegetarian options. I guess we are afraid that in Durant we are going to be so isolated that we will be bored and lonely. We are not religious. I tend to like the quirkiness of university towns. Any thoughts on what this area is like? Is it really easy to get to Dallas from here? We will be too hot compared to Tulsa?

thank you,

[Synopsis]

Durant is closer to Dallas than it is Tulsa, by a good 35 miles or more. It gets hotter in the southern part of the state in the summer, but generally speaking - summers all over Oklahoma are hot, with the exception of perhaps the panhandle where the higher elevations allow you to escape the heat. You won't have the restaurant options and shopping that you would have in Tulsa, but Dallas is only about a 90 minute drive and the shopping in Dallas is second to none in the world. Durant is a nice area, one that I would consider if I were to move to a smaller town than where I currently live (in the DFW area). I wish you the best of luck on your move! If I can help any more, please just PM me or respond to the thread.

[tracer46]

Hi Quincy,

I just left a reply on one of your older posts. Hope you get to read it as it's about Oklahoma and vet stuff and our dog. Congrats on selling the house! I lived in Massachusetts for about 20 years in three different stints. Actually, I've lived in about a dozen states and they've all been good.

You mentioned that you're looking at property in Mead. That's near Lake Texoma and only about an hour and a half from Dallas. We live in Davis which is about 70 miles nothwest of Mead right off of I35. We're vegetarian and pretty much organic living in a beef state...ha! It's been a fun transition to find places to eat and shop but eventually things work out. The locals here are great and I must say much more genuine and friendly than Bay Staters. Even though I thouroughly enjoyed Massachusetts I don't think I'd move back even if I could afford it.

Tulsa is a neat area but quite different from the Texoma region. It's probably warmer but drier in Mead than Sapulpa but in the Tulsa area you'd definetely have more culture and fine dining experiences. It's an old oil town with lots of amazing homes and architecture. Something like the Boston suburbs on a much smaller scale.

You won't go wrong with either place but property prices will probably be a little lower in Mead. Anyway, keep in touch when you move and maybe we can help you with the transition. Feel free to private message me.

In case you can't find my other post, we'll certainly bring our dog to you for care and hopefully we can find a solution his his hot spots! Our dog is a border collie mix (a lot of mix, actually) who is twelve. We've tried changing his diet several times and only buy the best foods. Currently he's eating something called Holistic Blenz which is mostly veggies, no fillers and fish. We were feeding him canned salmon with veggies that we use and he loved that. We thought at first it was the salmon but now it seems that it doesn't matter what he eats his biting his back, paws and tail are just geting worse. You mentioned bromaline (sp) in one of your posts as an effective anti inflammatory. Would that work with hot spots or are they a bacterial issue? Any help would be appreciated because our dog, Remi, and we are losing sleep at night because of his licking and biting.

Sorry for the long diatribe but hope you guys move soon.

Blessings,
Al

[pastorgirl]

Quincy,

I lived in Durant for 2 1/2 years. It's a good ol'boy town (southern democrats), not a lot of choices there for vegetarians, actually, when I lived there (2001-2003) there were NO choices! -- mostly fast food and a few sit down places around the area, we honestly went to Sherman, TX to eat out. Mead is really just a farming community west of town, most people have a Durant zip code. Dallas is an 1 1/2 and the Sherman, TX area has decent shopping and some restaurant choices (mostly chain, but a few good local places as well) and is just 15 miles from Durant down the road. Rural and not lots going on, but I do have some contacts in that area, both that have Mead addresses and those that have Durant ones, if you'd like their info, just let me know....

[panmunjom]

In 1866 a band of Creek Indians, who were being provisioned by the United States Government, were camped out a half mile South of the present site of Mead. Two families of Indians were camped in the present site, North of the Frisco Depot. These families freighted from Bonham, Texas to Fort Wa****a. West of the camp of the Creek Indians were two large Springs. This place was selected for the camp meeting grounds. Some of the Presbyterian Missionaries who came to this place were: Allen Wright and Stephens Peter. Later J. Frank Wright son of Allen Wright, educated in New York, came. Dixon Durant, a full-blood Choctaw, also preached here. He could speak English and would preach in the Choctaw language then interpret it for the white people who were there.
In a few years, A.J. Lucy came to this place and put in a store and named the place Double Springs. They built a church house, both white people and Indians began to move here, the church was also used a school.
C.W. Guew, a school teacher, started a subscription school, the white children were to pay one dollar per month and the Indian children could go free of charge. As there was no school house, he taught in the church house. A white man by the name of Lowe had some difficulty with the Indians with whom the teacher boarded and burned the church house, so the teacher would have to leave. They caught the man and had everything in readiness for a hanging, when a white man decided since the only evidence they had was his tracks, they could be mistaken. He was oldest man in the group, so they let him decide what to do with the prisoner. He decided in the prisoners favor and they let him go. They set to work to rebuild the church and in six weeks, it was ready for church services.
In 1890, C.W. Meade moved to Double Springs, put in a store, and he became the first postmaster. Since Double Springs was rather a long name, they decided to change the name of the place to Meade, then later the "e" was dropped and was now known as Mead from then on. The mail was brought out from Durant by Will Glover. The method of convenyance was a horse and buggy. C.G. Cline was the first rural carrier. The other carriers to follow were Thomas Tillery, Renard Looyengoed, Pepper Childerd, Chic Childers and Wendell Sexton.
The first Post Office was later run by Lewis Krause, where Mrs. Presley lives. It was moved across the street to Moore's Grocery and Hardware Store. Then, Mr. Moore was Postmaster. Later it moved back across the street on the corner, Earnest Scott was Postmaster a short time, then Luther Davis was Postmaster and Walter Boothe, Mrs. Sallee was acting Postmaster for a while then Vern James and he is now the Postmaster.
In 1895 Doctor Kenney put in a drug store. About three years later Doctor Morrison came and became his partner.
In 1902, a branch line of the Frisco Railroad came one mile North of Mead. The people decided it would be better to live nearer the railroad, so they moved their houses to the present site of Mead.
In 1903, the Frisco ran four trains a day. Passenger trains, two went West to Ardmore, Indian Territory and two went east to Hugo, Indian Territory.
Then the railroad took all passenger trains off and put on a small train, "The Little Dinkie". Mead had a large depot, the first depot agent was C. C. Cline. Mr. Free was section foreman.
Some of the children rode the train to school. The roads were too bad for a bus to run. Later in the year, 1960 the "Dinkie" was discontinued.
A new two story school was built a block East and a block North of the old school. Mrs. Ella Davis Cox taught in this school. Mr. West was the first superintendent, then Mike Rowland, McCready, Fox, R.H. VanMeter and Whitley.
In 1917, a brick school was built in South part of town, it was used until the school consolidated with Cobb in 1969 and a school was built at Silo. Some of the teachers in this new brick school were Mr. and Mrs. Ryle, Bradley, Bowden Rains, C.D. Parrish and Mrs. Bartlett. The first 10 grades taught at first, then later the 12 grades.
Later Mead Cemetery was made where Double Springs once stood. Mrs. Street Davis played the organ for the church. She was buried where the organ once stood. Mrs. Jennie Adcock wanted to be buried where the church steps stood.
New Mead, Indian Territory at one time had: a garage-Albert Adcock and he was Justice of the Peace. Two shows run by Sparks, Gibson and Meeks, a mattress factory and a bakery owned by Big Jack. A bank-Mr. Templeton, Stubbs and Ralph Ownby, a Drug Store - Dr. Kenney, Dr. Beech and Dr. Creswell. A newspaper-called "Mead Messenger", Grocery stores and Dry Goods, Bee and Bob Edelen, General Merchandise-Garris Brothers, and Mr. Moore. The Edelen Store sold on some Saturdays $1,000.00 cash and bought 30 cases of eggs, not counting credit and checks for the Saturday. Ice House- Bud Ratcliff ran the ice house for years. Each day around 11:45 everyone used to go down to the ice house and buy 5 cents worth of ice for lunch, 5 cents worth would buy a big block of ice.
John McAlester ran a restaurant. A cafe was owned by Gibsons, and a meat market. A hotel was owned by Mr. Moore and Mrs. Moore fixed lunch for the train men and delivered it to the depot.
Then Horton's ran the hotel for years until it closed. Mead had two cotton gins, Mr. Inge owned one and Mr. Henry Gammons ran one for a gin company.
There were three doctors in Mead. Dr. Jackson, Dr. Armstrong, and Dr. Austin. Dr. Creswell ran the Drug Store for years.
A Barber Shop came to Mead in 1903, Murce Katy was the first barber. He moved to Durant and George James was the barber after he left.
The first black smith shop was run by Hank Brown, then W.R. Davis and it had a griss mill run by Mr. Ridenhour, Bill Minor and Emit Canard. Taxi or Jitney was run by Street Davis, Luther Rowland and E.Q. Franklin.
A lumber yard was owned by Frensley Brothers, Bruce Ellis ran the yard. They made bricks North of Mead for a while. Highway 70 was first built about 1918.
In 1948, the Dennison Dam was built, forming what is now Lake Texoma. Mead is halfway between the lake and Durant, just off of Hwy 70.

[panmunjom]

My wife and I bought a few acres out here near the high water line of LakeTexoma, we plan to build here after I retire from the army; it’s a great place for my wife to live while I continue to serve overseas. The area falls under Mead (logistically) but we don't actually live in the town itself, like most residents out here, we are from someplace else; I'm from Los Angeles and she is from Dallas. It is very quite at night and the people are quite friendly, most of her family retired out here because it's cheaper than living in the city. Durant is twelve miles to the east along highway 70, they put in a whindshield glass factory a few years ago which drew in a Walmart Supercenter followed quickly by Lowes, Chili's, and Walgreens. I think the hottest spot in Mead is the Post Office and Church, both great places to go to if you want to connect with your neighbors, regardless of religious affiliation. You can also buy a family plot at the local cemetery for a good price, we paid $100. Property taxes out here are low as well, I'm home steading on four acres so my taxes are nil. If you plan to attend university, there is Southeastern, located in Durant. I suggest becoming a permanent resident before applying as it can be quite expensive for non-residents.

[peggydavis]

Thanks for serving our country, panmunjom. Mead is a nice area, and Lake Texoma is great for fishing and boating.