Ketch Ranch House - Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA
N 34° 42.291 W 098° 34.370
14S E 539119 N 3840395
Old abandoned Ketch Ranch house located on Fort Sill.
Waymark Code: WMN9PQ
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 01/26/2015
Views: 7
The remains of this old ranch house are still visible today. It was originally built by Frank and Ada Ketch and used as their working ranch home from 1923 to 1941. In 1941, the U.S. government acquired the acreage and buildings of the Ketch Ranch via court order and eminent domain for a western expansion of the Fort Sill Military Reservation. Upon acquisition by the U.S. government, the building became Building 765. The house was renumbered at some point to become Building 7775. Following acquisition, the house was used as a Non-commissioned officer's (NCO) club for several years. From approximately the 1960s to the late 1970s, the Ketch Ranch House was used by the Girl Scouts of America as part of a summer campsite know as Running Deer Girl Scout Camp. Since the Girl Scout tenure, the house has been vacant.
Since then, it has fallen into disrepair. The cobblestone structure still stands, but the roof is falling in. The outhouse and entryways are still visible as well as a round planter out the back door. The original house had one main living area, two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, dining room, sun room, and a wrap around porch. There are stairs that lead up from a concrete creek crossing to a flagpole on the front of the house. This was at one time a very popular place near the tourist destinations of Medicine Park and the Wichita Mountains. There is a resevouir 1 mile west know as Ketch Lake that was also built by the Ketch family.
Additional information can be found at the Fort Sill History Museum.
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