Ozark Trail - Stroud, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 44.933 W 096° 39.315
14S E 712013 N 3958631
This plaque is located on a replica of the Ozark Trail obelisk that once stood in downtown Stroud.
Waymark Code: WM12ZZX
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 08/17/2020
Views: 4
This obelisk stands on the southwest corner of Main Street (Route 66) and N. 2nd Avenue. Constructed of concrete, it stands approximately 21 ft. high. It is a replica of an original Ozark Trail obelisk which still stands west of Stroud, between Stroud and Davenport. It was moved to that location from where it originally stood at the intersection of Highways 66 and 99 in downtown Stroud.
The Ozark Trail was in operation from 1915 to 1926, when automobile travel began in earnest and there were no suitable roadways across the area. Unlike the Interstate system of today, the Ozark Trail sections of roads were built by the local communities they ran through, and when approved, were linked to form the Trail. Eventually in 1926, Route 66 took over many of the Ozark Trail roads.
A bronze plaque on the side of the obelisk documents the history of Stroud's involvement with the Ozark Trail. It reads:
This obelisk is an exact replica of the original
Ozark Trail Marker now located between Stroud and
Davenport. The Ozark Trail was a precursor for Route 66
and existed from 1915 to 1926. The first markers were
telephone poles painted green and white. These were
replaced with obelisks painted white with green directional
lettering of cities with the mileage to point travelers
along their way. Twenty-one of these markers were
constructed while only two remain in Oklahoma, one
in Stroud and the other in Langston. The marker stands
21' tall, is 48" square at the base and is 6' below ground.
It contains 12 yards of concrete and weighs around 48,600
pounds. The original marker was located at the
intersection of Highway 66 and Highway 99. After becoming
a traffic hazard with the increase of vehicles, it
was relocated to its current location 3 miles West
(N3540 Road) and 1.3 miles South (E890 Road) of Stroud.
