42 A St NE - Ardmore Historic Commercial District - Ardmore, OK
N 34° 10.408 W 097° 07.553
14S E 672728 N 3782976
The building at 42 Caddo St NE is a contributing building to the Ardmore Historic Commercial District. Today, it appears vacant, perhaps used for storage.
Waymark Code: WM12FXV
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 05/18/2020
Views: 0
While the National Register's Registration Form (see Optional link) lists this and other properties at A St NE, today, the street is noted as "Caddo St NE" on signs. The Registration Form dates this commercial style building to about 1921, and it provides a description:
Historically located by the freight depot, this one-story, red brick, flat-roofed building exhibits a warehouse feeling. There is a loading dock extending the width of the north elevation, sheltered by a metal awning. The windows on the west side have been boarded and there are no openings on the south elevation. On the north elevation, there are several fixed windows, some of which have been boarded, and a double, wood, slab door. Painted signs remain faded on the upper wall on both the west and south elevations.
According to Butch Bridges's Oklahoma History website, this was a location for the Swift Meat Company -- presumably the same or related to the company founded by Gustavus Franklin Swift -- as noted by "Swift's Premium Hams and Bacon" still legible on the south and east elevations. There is a basement here, and at one time, an elevator. At this time, the only visible windows on the north elevation are the basement windows, down low, and there is no sign of the referenced slab door. The metal awning is long gone, and corrugated metal covers a significant portion of this side of the building.
Butch mentioned some talk about restoration, but that was 2015, and there is nothing obvious happening as of this posting. As life is returning to Caddo Street up the block, though, there is always hope: This would be a good place for a restaurant or taproom to escape the summer heat in that basement.