The Arlington in Oklahoma City

In 1903 an ad ran in the local Oklahoma City newspaper for 'The Arlington'.  It boasted a telephone exchange (131) and 'modern conveniences'  and 'furnished rooms' where 'transients were welcome'.  The establishment was managed by Mrs. M. McDonald and was located at 507 W. 2nd. (Oklahoman, Feb.16, 1903, pg.6)

 

Just a few years later, in 1908 it was identified clearly as belonging to notorious local madam, Big Anne.  Arrested when it was shut down in February of that year were: Big Anne Baily, her husband James Bailey, Mary McDonald, Agnes Taylor, Etta Carl (who may have been known by the name Etta Woods), Rose Jones, Marie Hayes, Beulah Penny, Pearl Stone and Jimmie Stone. (Oklahoman, Feb. 6, 1908, pg. 9).

 

Today this site is covered by a parking lot at the corner of Robert S. Kerr and Hudson Ave. (Progressive Parking) in Oklahoma City.  It is just north of the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Human Occupation Older Than We Thought

Recently a newsfeed article proclaimed that evidence had been found that pushed back human occupation beyond the standard 10,000-12,000 years noted in most textbooks.  I wanted to comment, old news, but

decided to be nice.

South America, which you  might assume, using the Beran Strait model would have been settled last, has some occupation sites going back past 40,000 (one even thought to date to 80,000).

North American sites, in Alaska, Pacific NW and California shore, have regularly produced 10,000-11,000 dates, with a few being redated via new testing to as much as 16,000.  But if they came over the strait and then trickled down into central and south America....shouldn't these sites be older?

What some have theorized for decades is finally being accepted my mainstream science and that is that there was no single migration that populated the Americas.  Instead, there were waves of migration that brought people to the Americas.

There was not one route via the Strait, but many stopping off places as migrating people using very efficient craft followed the coast lines southward.  Instead evidence of this has been found in South America with a pottery made precisely the way a pottery was made in ancient northern Japan.

Other evidence showing there was a more common south to north migration is found in the early mound building cultures of the American southeast (from Oklahoma to Georgia and Illnois to Alabama).  The art, artifacts, and construction of these community centers show clear links to Meso-America.

QUICK OKLAHOMA HALLOWEEN HISTORY

HALLOWEEN: OKLAHOMA TRICKS-N-TREATS 1900-1989.  

This fun little book shares the history of some ways Halloween was celebrated in Oklahoma between 1900 and 1989.  It looks at some of the influences that made the season sinister, safe, and sometimes silly.

Authored by Marilyn A. Hudson it will be of interest to any who enjoy their holidays with a dash of local history.

Now availale in Kindle format as well.  (ISBN: 0615711111 / 9780615711119)