County of statue: Texas County
location of statue: Main St. & Florence St., Tyrone
Erected by: The People of Tyrone & The American Legion
Installed May 30, 1921
Monument text: This monument erected by the people of Tyrone for the American Legion
In honor of the veterans of the World War both living and dead
Lower base is etched J. B. '57
I could find no other marking on the statue or the base. No artist signature, nor founders mark
Proper Description: "Full-length figure of a male soldier from World War I, stands with legs together and arms down at his side, with rifle in ground arms position. He is dressed in full overseas gear." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum
"“Tyrone: Boom to bust... now bankruptcy”
Jay C. Grelen • Published: October 11, 2000
TYRONE - The soldier's silent, stone face says it all about this tiny Texas County town.
His nose is missing, chipped to nothing. His lips are rough beyond easy repair.
Vandals have chiseled off the rim of his helmet, and they have battered away all but the barrel of his rifle . His left boot, where his big toe should be, is notched.
"When we were kids, you didn't mess with that statue," said Bob Booth, who has lived all but four of his 71 years in Tyrone. "You didn't climb around on it. People respected it."
The fortunes of the soldier parallel those of the town over which he stands sentinel: Boom to bust to bankruptcy.
A bankruptcy petition filed recently in Oklahoma City is the town's response to lawsuits filed by several former police officers, including the former chief, Ken Winter. The claims and lawyers' fees equal the city's annual budget of about $150,000.
Tyrone filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which allows the city to operate while it sorts out its problems.
When Bob Booth and his wife, Henriella, were kids, Tyrone's slide already had begun, but the World War I soldier, erected in 1919, still had his nose.
Tyrone, which began as a town in Kansas, had its day in the sun from 1915 until the Depression.
Tyrone was a child of the railroad, born in 1887 when Kansans refused to allow longhorn cattle from what we now call the Oklahoma Panhandle.
The longhorns carried a fever tick, which didn't affect the longhorns but killed Herefords.
The cattlemen agreed to load the longhorns onto rail cars so they could be sent through Kansas without spreading the tick.
Tyrone became a turnaround point." ~ NewsOK