This weeks Monday McCarter Memory honors the memory of the late Louis E. McCarter. He and his family moved to Tonkawa in 1945. He owned Valley Lumber Company for many years and was a highly respected member of this community. He and his wife Bertha raised three sons in Tonkawa.
Mr. McCarter was active in Kiwanis, Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce, Masonic Lodge and served on numerous boards and committees. He was remembered as a kind man with a wonderful smile.
The Tonkawa Historical Society, officially formed in 1972, spent many years building the foundation for housing a place to preserve our history. In 1997 the dream of opening a museum became a reality. The McCarter brothers, Louis E.“Louie” McCarter, Jr. , John S. “Steve” McCarter and Charles T. “Ted” McCarter made a generous donation towards the purchase of the building at 220 E. Grand Ave. in honor of their late father. A ribbon cutting was held on Friday, July 4, 1997. This gift, along with generous donations from the community and many hours from volunteers, made the McCarter Museum what it is today.
Thank you, McCarter family, for your legacy and this gift to our community!
FROM LAST WEEK...
This weeks Museum Memory takes us back to the history of the Mom & Pop neighborhood grocery stores. At the museum you can find some wonderful research by Eleanor Jones Hays that she compiled in 2005. Her opening states this: “Long gone are the days when residential Neighborhoods were dotted with friendly little grocery stores. Every family did not have an automobile for shopping so it was done close to home. Meat was cut to order before your eyes. Boys were sent on their bicycles to the neighborhood store for a loaf of bread or other necessity before supper could be put on the table. Children with pennies stopped by on their way home for candy.”
She was able to find some of the locations still standing and I have included some of the photos below. Also included were lists of those old Mom & Pop corner stores. I was surprised to see we had so many!
Thank you, Eleanor, for recording this interesting part of Tonkawa History.
...
