Foss - 1902 to 1957 - Foss, Oklahoma, USA. - Timelines on Waymarking.com

The three granite plaques give details of Foss from 1900 to 1982. Although the central marker gives information from 1902 to 1957. The other 2 markers may have been added on each end at a later date.

The Text from the 3 separate markers reads:
"Foss was plagued with troubles from its inception. In 1900 the town was established on land taken from the Cheyenne-Arapaho tribes in 1892 around Turkey Creek and granted charter in 1901 at around the same time the Rock Island Railroad came through. The town quickly became the largest trade area between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, but in 1902 Turkey Creek devastatingly flooded, wiping out a large portion of the town and killing nine people. After the flood, the town was moved uphill to the north, out of range of flood waters from the creek. The town grew quickly, having a population of nearly a thousand by 1905 with two banks and multiple cotton gins. But within less than a decade of the flood, in August of 1908, tragedy struck again in the form of a fire which destroyed a city block before being put under control. In April of 1909, a second fire destroyed most of the buildings in the area. Although a water plant and electric plant were built within a few years to improve conditions, nonetheless the town’s population peaked between 1915 and 1930 at around one thousand six hundred. The stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression, as well as heavy migration away from the area during the Dust Bowl and World War II quickly dwindled the population and a third massive fire in 1939 put the town into a rapid decline from which it never recovered. The travelers along Route 66 on the south side of town and the air force base at Burns Flat kept it alive through the fifties and sixties, but lack of students closed the school in 1957 and with the closing of the air force base and decommissioning of sixty six came the closure of the last bank in 1977. In 1982 the Temple Building, one of the only remaining buildings from the town’s glory days and home of the first bank and post office, burned down. Today, little remains of Foss beyond the old church (now a residence), a cemetery, a jail, an abandoned gas station, and a handful of residents.

From Wikipedia:
"The history of Foss began when settlers from the area of the Wilson post office moved four miles north to the valley of Turkey Creek in the late 1890s. They initially wanted their new post office to be called Graham, but since that name was already taken it was named Maharg (an anagram of Graham). A flash flood on May 2, 1902 wiped out the town on Turkey Creek, destroying businesses and drowning several people. The town rebuilt on higher ground and was named Foss. The post office began operation on September 15, 1900.

The town expanded rapidly. By 1905 the town had a population between 900 and 1000 residents. It had two banks, three cotton gins, and by 1912 had an electric plant, two hotels and an opera house. It also had plants to manufacture hay balers, baby carriages, and brooms. The population stabilized near 500. In the 1920s the town began to have problems and the nearby cities of Clinton and Elk City absorbed more and more trade. During the Great Depression more people moved away." text Source: (visit link)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/24/2016 veritas vita visited it