| City/Town: • Maud |
| Location Class: • Church • Commercial • Disappearing Town • Jail • Residential |
| Built: • April 16, 1896 | Abandoned: • N/A |
| Status: • Disappearing Town |
| Photojournalist: • Jennifer Burton • Leslie Flaming • Michael Schwarz • David Gaede • Eric Price |
Maud, OK is best known as the birthplace of Wanda Jackson, the queen of rockabilly. The town is located at the intersection of State Highways 59 and 9A, with its western half of the town located in Pottawatomie County and its eastern half in Seminole County. The town was established along the dividing line between Oklahoma and Indian territories and in 1890 a barbed-wire fence was built from the North Canadian River to the Canadian River through the middle of town to keep Indians out of Oklahoma Territory. However, the fence did not deter the illegal distribution of alcohol to the Indians.
On April 16, 1896, a post office was established and the town was named after Maud Sterns, a sister to the wives of the two owners of the first general store. Astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. was the grandson of Philip Cooper and his wife Cora Sterns who were one of the owners of the store. A railroad depot built in 1903 serviced four passenger and eight freight trains daily on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (in 1923 the Oklahoma City, Ada and Atoka Railway). In a short time one general store, three dry good stores, two drug stores, one blacksmith, three cotton gins, and one funeral parlor were built. The first newspaper, the “Maud Monitor”, was published in February 1904. Maud was incorporated on July 21, 1905. By 1910 the population had reached 503.
In the early 1920’s, due to the discovery of oil, Maud became a boomtown with an estimated population of 10,000, and its business district doubled. However, by 1930 Maud’s population dwindled to 4,326. At the turn of the twenty-first century the Maud Historical Museum was located on East Main in the old Irby Drugstore, and the town had a population of 1,136.
Wanda Jean Jackson
In 1937 Wanda Jean Jackson was born in Maud. Her father Tom played piano in bar bands and worked whatever odd jobs he could find during the Depression. In 1941 he loaded up the family and headed for California and a better way of life. The family settled in Bakersfield. Wanda first learned to sing in a church gospel choir. Her father bought her her first guitar, gave her lessons, and encouraged her to play piano as well. In addition, he took her to see such acts as Tex Williams, Spade Cooley, and Bob Wills, which left a lasting impression on her young mind. Tom moved the family back to Oklahoma City when Wanda was 12 years old.
While attending high school in 1952, Wanda won a talent show at a local radio station. Her prize was a daily fifteen-minute radio program on KLPR. The program, soon upped to 30 minutes, lasted throughout Jackson’s high school years. Jackson began her professional career while still attending Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City after being discovered by Hank Thompson in 1954, who heard her singing on local station KLPR-AM and invited her to perform with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. After graduating from high school, Jackson began to tour with her father as manager and chaperon. She often shared the bill with Elvis Presley, who encouraged Jackson to sing rockabilly. She was a cast member of ABC-TV’s Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri from 1955–1960, and in 1956 she signed with Capitol, recording a number of singles mixing country with rock and roll. “I Gotta Know” was released in 1956 & peaked at No. 15.
Maud Historical Museum (Irby Drug Store)
Built: 1928 Abandoned: Temporarily Closed
Maud Historical Museum is housed in the former Irby Drug Building. The drug store became a part of Main Street when it was constructed in 1928. It gets its name from the man who owned it, John Irby who was the Founder. One interesting story from 1947 regarding the Irby Building as reported in the Seminole Producer was, “An estimated $1,000 in jewelry was taken from the Irby Drug store in Maud today and O.L. Harvey’s filling station east of the city reported theft of money from a cigarette machine during the night.”
Around 1957 Robert Snelson became a partner with John Irby and they ran the store together. Irby Drug remained in business through 1972 when businesses in the small town struggled to stay afloat. The drug store’s original soda fountain and pharmacy are still intact, and most of the display cases are also from the original drug store. In more recent years the building was turned into the Maud Historical Museum which featured hundreds of artifacts relating to the history of the town. The many displays include surrounding communities, and consist of former school items, community organizations, former businesses and many clothing items from former Maud citizens. There is also a large display of Rock-a-Billy singer Wanda Jackson, who was born in Maud, along with separate displays of churches, schools, doctors and lawyers’ offices. All items in the museum have been donated or loaned by current and former Maud citizens.
First Baptist Church of Maud
Built: 1926 Abandoned: 2008
The First Baptist Church of Maud was closed and abandoned in 2008 after a leak in the roof. Having gone unnoticed it allowed black mold to spread throughout making the church toxic and uninhabitable. The option to clean and remove the mold plus replace the roof would have been far too expensive for the congregation. The inside was gutted and pews salvaged to gain back some money for the new church to be built. The new church is located at 801 N. Green St. and holds service for the Baptists of Maud.
Kib Warren (Knights) Funeral Home
Built: ~1933 Status: Under Renovation
Built around 1933 according to government insurance maps the Kib Warren Funeral Home became a part of the funeral competition in Maud. At the time Kib Warren had Ogee Funeral home to compete with and was arguably more favored as a funeral home. Nonetheless, it hosted services for numerous families over the next fifteen years.
In the 1940s a gentleman by the name of Alfred Leroy Knight had returned from serving in the U.S. Air Force. After his return he attended embalming school in Dallas Texas, he then returned to Oklahoma where he secured a job at Watts Funeral Home in Konowa. Al and his wife Betty along with their sons Tommy and Warren decided to move to Maud a year later and settle down.
In 1948 Al purchased the two-story Kib Warren Funeral Home using the second floor as their home and utilizing the first floor as Knight Funeral Home. Knight had big dreams for the funeral business in Maud and had already bought out one of his competitors. It was only a few years later that he bought out Ogee Bros. Funeral Home as well and consolidated the two making Knights the prime funeral home for Maud. They purchased the telephone building across the street and also utilized it for the funeral home often using it for storage. But by the mid-1950s it was necessary to build newer construction. Just across the street and completed in 1956 was the brand new Knights Funeral Home.
The building that formerly housed Knights and Kib Warren Funeral Homes was listed for sale shortly after. It was sold to Jim and Ola Roberts renovating it into what would be known as the Roberts Hotel and later Roberts Apartment House. It stayed apartments for the next few decades experiencing remodels in the 1980s and again in the 1990s to make the layout less hotel-like and more fit for apartments.
In 2021 locals were offered the property by the previous owner, “My husband knows the lady who previously owned it, and she just offered to sell it to us one day. I had no idea it used to be a funeral home, we just knew it was an apartment building.” They have taken on the massive project to renovate the two-story building, ” The process has been SLOW and expensive, it’s very outdated on the inside and vandalized from when it was broken into,” said one of the new owners. They have plans to make the second floor their home and the first floor into a mix of Airbnb suites and apartments with time.
Maud Masonic Lodge No. 106
Built: 1929 Abandoned: 1999
The Maud Masonic Lodge was constructed in 1929 as a massive and grand lodge. The building almost looks disproportionate to the rest of the town and one can only wonder what a building so big looked like back in the day. The cornerstone lists Rufus O Renfrew as the Grand Master and displays the Masons symbol.
Just a few years later the Maud Lodge was rewarded with an attendance banner with 58 members present. Whichever lodge with the best attendance records throughout the year would receive the reward, Konawa received the reward the year prior. Meetings were held in this building up until 1999 when the structural integrity of the building was found to not be in good standing. The old lodge was sold to a local citizen who used the building as storage and just a year or so later the back portion of the building collapsed.
Maud Jail
Nothing could be found on the jail cell that sits on the corner of Main and Broadway Street. According to a former resident, the building is newer than 1954 because when they moved away from the town it did not stand. Some speculate it looks like it’s been removed from a different building. It is a small single cell jail made out of cement blocks and painted white. The heavy steel door looks to be almost new and ready for use to lock up any delinquents.
Sunset Estates of Maud
Built: Abandoned: 2006 Status: Restored
Sunset Estates was opened as a long term nursing facility in 1977 for medicaid and medicare patients only. There were 62 beds.
They provided many services to residents such as clinical laboratory services, dental services, dietary services, mental and social services and speech and language pathology. In 1997 a Pottawatomie county judge found Sunset Estates (medi-plex) not guilty in a case filed against the facility. The case concerned injuries a patient suffered when she fell from her bed in 1994. In 2002 they were cited with 4 deficiency violations by the state fire marshal concerning smoke alarms, sprinkler system, faulty electrical wiring in the attic and fire extinguisher certifications. By September of 2002 it had changed ownership four times. In 2006, the facility was unable to secure funding through the states medicaid program and was forced to close its doors. Maud Residential care 65 beds
Galleries Below
IRBY
https://www.newspapers.com/image/590035589/?terms=irby%20drug&match=1
travelok.com
FUNERAL HOME
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4024mm.g4024mm_g071721933/?sp=5&r=0.504,0.229,0.201,0.098,0
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106993818/betty-lou-knight
https://www.newspapers.com/image/591334069/?terms=maud%20funeral%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/592189184/?terms=monroe%20apartments&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/592201796/?terms=roberts%20apartments%20maud&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/666565041/?terms=roberts%20maud&match=1
LODGE
https://www.newspapers.com/image/590109018/?terms=maud%20masonic%20lodge&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/590047809/?terms=maud%20lodge&match=1
If you wish to support our current and future work, please consider making a donation or purchasing one of our many books. Any and all donations are appreciated.
Donate to our cause Check out our books!
My family was in the area almost from the start of Maud. Both sets of great-grandparents land rushed near by. My grandmother told me the story how she got to the area. She said she came by train from Knoxville, Tn. They rode till then had to get off and climb into a cover wagon to drive the rest of the way to their new home that my great-grandfather had already built. Both sets of great- grandparents are buried at Pleasant Valley cemetery. My father George Davis was born in 1937 and went to school with Wanda Jackson. He remembered her in elementary school. I heard stories of the Davis family playing music for dances in town. One if my dad’s favorite memories as a kid was going to the movie theater down on Main. He would tell me about how it looked, said it was so fancy that he only guessed that’s what Hollywood looked like. I really wish there were pictures of that theater. My father left Maud in 1957 to join the Navy. I haven’t been back to Maud since 1996 when my grandmother passed.
Maud Oklahoma has a Dollar General, and a new Family Dollar opening soon. Sure those old building s are no longer in use. But there isa brand new bank and schools still open. And people thriving there daily. Funny people call it a ghost town is not right by any means.
Jim (James) married Opal Sloan, Charles married Wilma Ledford, and William Married Opal Smyth. There was one Daughter Mary Lou who was not married.
Sorry for the double post but could not edit what I left out.
In your article you stated that there was one Blacksmith in Maude My Grandfather was a Blacksmith in Maude from 1923 until his Death in 1941. Does anyone know where the Blacksmith shop was located? His Name was Thomas Henry Freer. He had 3 boys that went to school there and they married people from there. Jim Charles, and William were their names. William’s Son Billy Jack is buried in Cummings as is Thomas Henry Freer .
I work for a couple, Jim (91) and Sue (89). Jim has been gone most of his life from there but has a sister and step brother buried there
1925-1929 time frame
Baby Benny Smith <1924->1927,
Baby Ketchum
I lived in Maud from 1947 till 1955. Attended school from the 2nd grade until the end of the 8th grade when my father was transferred to West Texas. He worked for Mobil Oil Co. My mother was a beauty operator working for Mrs. Roberts at the beauty shop in the Roberts Hotel. I made many friends in Maud and am still friends with many of them today. Maud was a great place to live during that time. I will always have fond memories of living there.
Wow, Maud is full of memories for me, some good, some, well….. I am glad to see that some people are trying to keep it going! My grandparents (Gilbert "Sr." and Dorothy Crook lived there (ever since I can remember) after moving from Ray City. They sold beef to O-Daniel's grocery from their farm south of town. My father Gilbert "GM" Crook as well as my aunt Marvella Crook (Martin), uncle E.O. "Corkey" Martin and my brother Bruce Floyd graduated from Maud high. I went to high school in Maud 72 to 76. I graduated and couldn't wait to leave Maud. My father and (step) mom Dorothy continued to live in Maud and I visited often. I remember cruising Main st. in my 1968 cougar (that I still own) in my high school days (those were good times). Maud was a vibrant, lively small town. I remember parades, rodeos and busy Saturdays on Main st. We painted coach Percy's Ford Galaxie orange and black tiger stripes in our auto mechanics class. Does anyone remember Billy Jack Guinn's Chevy pickup with the flames we painted in auto mechanics? Maud is "declining" because of the greed of the corporate rich, not because it's people aren't great, don't care or don't try! This is the unfortunate case with most small Midwestern towns. If we tell our children our fond memories of small town life, they will understand that there is a better, simpler way of life. Places like Maud are not only the past, but the best hope for the future. Thank all of you for working to keep it alive! To all of my friends from Maud (you know who you are) I thank you for your kindness and to the rest of you well….. I forgave you long ago!
My father, Maynard Wilbur McMeekin, drilled oil wells near Maud beginning in early 1927. He met my mother, Dolly Hamilton, at a watermelon stand in Wewoka. They married in 1928. Apparently there was no housing available in Maud and the newly weds lived on the edge of town in a tent with a board floor and board walls about five feet high. I was told the area of tents was referred to as "Rag Town." I was born in the Maud Hospital on the 28th of August, 1929. As a baby, I spent the first 18 months of my life living in our tent home. We left Maud in 1931 moving to another oil boom town in East Texas. By 1943 our family lived in Arizona. I never revisited Maud until 1964 when I took my mother and my family on a trip visiting the towns and farms in Oklahoma and Texas where I lived as a baby and child. We were in Maud for only a few hours. We did meet a number of friendly people. I hoped to visit the location where we lived in a tent when I was a baby. Mom couldn't remember the location and the ones I spoke with had no knowledge of the tent town.
I was told as a child growing up in st.Louis ok which is 5 miles west of Maud that where my home was had been an old tent city
I’m not sure why you are calling Maud a ghost town, while we have quite a few abandoned properties and the town has declined in many ways it is by no means a ghost town or abandoned. We have open schools, post office and businesses; we have community events and a decent population considering all the other oil boom days communities in the area.
Definitely not a ghost town! 2 Kwik Stops, a weekly auction, a dollar general I worked at d.g for quiet awhile. (Lived out across from O Daniel’s Mud Disposal going toward Shawnee) and I heard a family dollar is going in also now. The nursing home now has mentally challenged people living there. Loved living there.
Wow a Dollar General. It’s practically Lower Manhattan!
Exactly not no ghost town. Maud is still alive.
Exactly is yes ghost town. Maud is bye bye.
The drug store that was in Maud, was originally operated by a Arthur William Tribbey. This was my Great Grandfather. Has the drugstore been converted into a museum? Also my Great Great Grandfather Alpheus Milton lived there off of Broadway. I have been able to find the obits on their deaths.
would like to find some who is doinggeneology on the hathcock linr .green loyd is my great great uncle whose father is loyd green hathcock, green is buried in one of the cemetaries around maude. My email is rjhath1950@gmail.com thanks ron hathcock
Hello friends, thank you for your work on the history and comments of a town
That holds heart felt memories. My family and I moved to Maud by accident in 1954. Grew up there from the 1st grade through the 6th. My fathers family all grew up in Maud, Oklahoma. My grandparents were Carl and Ida Skeen. They had the plumbing company and also took care of the Cummings Cemetary.
I remember all the families that owned the stores in downtown Maud.
Seeing the pictures and reading some of the comments posted brings back so many memories.
For me…. It was a WONDERFUL TOWN a WONDERFUL time to live in.
My home,
Terry Skeen Phillips
Amen! Shirley Coward Bowder here. Was my home too. In fact my husband 's family the Crawfords are still there. We live in Ardmore. We come to see them. (overdue) But, Maud will always be our home.
Would your site be interested in a scan of the graduation class photos of class of 1947?
Yes would love to see pictures of the class that graduated from Hackleburg high I graduated in in 1947 and married Elvis Raper and moved to Mich, He has passed away and I am inOhio now with My daughter, thatguy15111@gmail.com thanks
Does Maud still have records of Births and such from when it was incorporated? My grandfather, Elmer S. Graham was said to have been born in Maud, OK around 1905. Looking to see if there are any records of him or any other Graham's from that time. _
My father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather came to Maud from Denton, TX in 1928 to work on a "boarding house." My great-grandfather probably worked in the oil fields. Does anyone who lives in Maud know if there is a hotel or boarding house from 1928 still standing? I would love to see a photo.
No . my great grandmothers house was right by it. It is gone also
Do you know if it was the one that was where the police station is now?
Hello. I just found some old pictures and information that my mother had in a suitcase when she was doing some old family research. She was born in Maud in 1921 in a house on the NE corner of W Young and Hodges Streets. Her older brothers and sisters went to school just across the street. Her dad’s mother ran a boarding house/hotel located on Main Street where the police station is located now. I just talked to the chief of police there today and he said that it was interesting to know because they have strange things happen from time to time and that may well explain why. Anyway, I’m wondering if your 1928 boarding house/hotel is one in the same as my great grandmother’s. Her name was Mary Ann (Molly) Thomas. I can be reached at atat2dlady@gmail.com if you’d like to contact me.
I have a picture and will find it for you. There were two that might be what you are looking for. Check back in a few day.
I absolutely love old cities and this one brought tears to my eyes. I came to Oklahoma 7 years ago and I love everything about it but cities like Maud capture my heart. I see the pictures that you have taken and I see the reality but I also see what it once was. The hustle and bustle of full stores, people standing around talking amongst themselves, small city life where everyone knows each other and cares whether or not someone hurts.
I do not know if the town was really that way or not but the beauty in those old, closed up buildings brings a life to my mind that is just not the normal existence anymore, unfortunately. I would love to come take pictures for myself one day soon so that I can bring those images in my mind alive for myself. You have a beautiful, historic old city!!
Patsy Hammett Bowen, My name, went to school in Maud………and attended the First Church of God all of my growing up years. I have often wondered about one of our high school teachers, Jean Pittsenbarger, her father was the pastor at the church. Anyone know please give shout out. Also Danny O'Daniel???????
😀
Patsy, my name is Phyllis Loudermilk Hurst. My three brothers and I all attended Maud schools. You were dating David Hurst from Pleasant Grove, and when you broke up I started dating him. We married in 1958, and have been married 63 years now. We live in Huntsville, Texas and love it. I remember the Pitsenbarger’s, but do not know anything about them now. My brother, Amos Lee, still lives in Maud. My brother Billy Ray lives in Bartlesville and my youngest brother Tommy Joe lives in Mounds. Our parents, Herbert and Opal Loudermilk have been deceased about 13 years.
Patsy, my name is Phyllis Loudermilk Hurst. My three brothers and I all attended Maud schools. You were dating David Hurst from Pleasant Grove, and when you broke up I started dating him. We married in 1958, and have been married 63 years now. We live in Huntsville, Texas and love it. I remember the Pitsenbarger’s, but do not know anything about them now. My brother, Amos Lee, still lives in Maud. My brother Billy Ray lives in Bartlesville and my youngest brother Tommy Joe lives in Mounds. Our parents, Herbert and Opal Loudermilk have been deceased about 13 years. Oh I think Danny O’Daniel was killed in a car accident between MOD in St. Louis when he was still a teenager.
I was brought up in the country east of Maud. My brother Bill and I attended Maud High school. Happy to find this site. Is there any recent updates from the museum?
although I am only 15 I grew up in maud Oklahoma and some of my family members still live there or in the niehboring towns I am proud of were I grew up and will always that little town that I call home<3
It’s onerous to find educated individuals on this matter, but you sound like you already know what you’re speaking about! Thanks
I spent my senior year in Maud, got my first job at Bodkins Furniture Store and worked as a life guard at the Maud Pool. During my brief stay, I made many friends and had the privilege of meeting some of the friendliest people around. My life in Maud was a Blessing. Its been almost 40 years now since I left, yet the memories of the good times spent in my little town still register as the best. My travels have been extensive and my experiences vast so I can honestly say the friendliest, most down to earth people I have ever met are from Maud Oklahoma…..
Hi Randy, I had the chance to meet you while attending Maud High during my exchange student program back in 1974. I was staying with Ann and Jack Arnold (Arnold Hardware Store at main st.) visiting from Brazil.
We were playing basketball, remember? Sterling Harjo was the team star at that time.
I had the chance to visit Maud back in 1995 and the city was really
Hope you are doing well.
I was reading about the earthquake and bumped on this site.
God Bless you!
If you get this message drop me a few lines! robert.caracik1@gmail.com
Robert
I remember when the pool opened.we were so happy. Was there all the time. Tommy Jackson was lifeguard and his brother can’t remember his name
Love all the photos! I grew up in Shawnee and don't remember ever going to Maud but I plan to visit soon as my sister's daughter now owns a cafe there and I am anxious to visit her as haven't seen her since she was a child. I recall there used to be a man who restored old photos there as my aunt took some to him many years ago, does anyone remember him?
I hope that someone would come to maud and see how beautiful maud is and and restore the town.:)
I am looking for a Rick Hudson that is thought to be living in Maud. If anyone here knows this man, please tell him that David McVey is trying to reach him. email dave_exp@yahoo.com
David the only Hudson I knew in Maud was Jim Hudson. We were in the same class,Class Of 1971
I remember Jimmy
My grandparents, W.L. and Ruby Holbert, lived in Maud in the 1960's and 1970's. Does anyone remember them? Also, my parents, Al and Nelda Hovden lived there briefly in the 1960's. I remember visiting my grandparents and going to the "ropings" on weekends.
I don't understand why they have Maud listed as a Location Class:•Ghost Town. My mother, grandfather, uncle, brother, nephew and niece still live in Maud. There is a high school there. Just because downtown is not what I once use to be. Does not mean it is a ghost town. I remember when downtown was very active when I was a kid. We could ride our bikes anywhere we wanted to in town and everyone knew each other.:)
My name is joshua blankenship and my uncle bobby watson is the mayor i grew up in this town and a lot of my family lives here i now live in seminole becuz its closer to my job but i have wonderful memories of growing up in the eighties and nineties growing up in a small town taught me a lot if valuez and things i wouldnt have learned in the city. I know my uncle works hard to improve the town and its one of the great small towns if the u.s. i miss the days of riding my bike around town with my gang all day going to odaniels grocery store snd bucks n jeans kwikstops.
Joshua, is there any way to pass a Blight Citation on the junk in front of some of the stores? In a bigger town you couldn't get away with all the refuse just sitting out in the open. And please tell your Uncle maybe if you all can come up with some sort of a festival it could bring in some money. Someone has a Pecan Festival trying to beat a Guiness record every year. Someone else has a Sand Bass Festival. We have a Strawberry Festival and a Watermelon Festival. What can Maud have? Too bad there's no market for a Vo-Tec for both Seminole and Pott counties since you're on the line.
I was born and raised in Maud; my father and my mother were both born in Maud. My grandfather and grandmother moved there in 1907 and opened a grocery store – Copeland's IGA…I'm 70 now – as old as many of the folks who came into the store when I was a kid working there – lots of water has gone under the bridge since then, but nothing will ever match the magic of growing up in Maud. The friends I made through those 12 years of school there are still friends today – treasured friends – I feel sorry for those who never had the opportunity to have the kind of wonderful existence I was honored to have in Maud, OK. Cummings Cemetery is full of folks whose groceries I sacked and carried to their cars – someday I'll join them there – wouldn't want to end up anywhere else other than where I started out!
Any information you could provide on my great grandfather TJ Simpson, original settler in 1900's, laid to rest in Cummings with his wife, Polly Bell Kinslow? The Simpson Farm West of town I think is gone now, but his mineral rights live on.
Did you know Bill Collins or his kids, Billy Jim, Duane, and Betty Lou? They lived at 205 washington.
My name is linda flesher do you remember going to school with my husband Cecil flesher
Did you know anybody named Fife ?
Weren’t Fires cousins of Sterling’s.
There was a mailman named Copeland
Do you remember any of the James and Myrtle Thomas family? They are my grandparents on my mom’s side. They had children, Jeff, Jim, Pete, Lon, Jewel, OlaMay, Hazel and a baby girl born there in 1921, Evelyn. Evelyn is my mother. Her mother, Myrtle died in 1923 when Mom was just 15 months old. Grandpa left Maud for OKC shortly after that. I know they lived in a house on the NE corner of W Young & Hodges Streets. Grandpa’s mother, Molly Thomas ran a boarding house/hotel where the police station is now. Any information you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Fonda atat2dlady@gmail.com
I was born in Shawnee, but Maud was my home. My mother, Selma Pugh. came to Maud with her parents and twin sister when she was 19 years old–1926. My father, Glenn Rhoades, came to Maud in 1937. He was hired by D. D. Kirkland as an Industrial Arts and Math teacher. He held that position except for one year at his choice moved to St. Louis and then back to Maud the next year for 35 years. Maud was always there home. The museum held a very special place in their hearts after it was opened and they enjoyed volunteering there and of course, I always remembered it as the Irby Drug Store because I had the privilege of working for Mr. Snelson my Senior year in high school and also on weekends some while in college. Someone wrote you can go most any place and find people who have connections to Maud. This is true as it has happened to my husband and me . Due to the Harris family who lived there many years ago and were bankers, Maud also has connections to the royal families of two European countries as their son married a princess from Germany. Maud was a small town, but a wonderful town in which to live.
Your father taught me math many years ago while I was in Maud High School. I built upon this and my education at Gordon Cooper Vo-tech to get an electrical engineering degree at OSU. This degree has paid for itself many times over. It is still paying today. Mr. Rhoades was an excellent teacher, the best one that I had while at Maud.
I lived in Maud for a few years as a boy. I was friends with Ray and Betty O'Daniel who owned O'Daniel's Food Mart. I hate to see that the town has fallen apart. It's gonna become a ghost town soon.
I grew up in St. Louis and went to high school in Maud. My grandparents lived out in the north of Sacred Heart. I still remember doing with them on Saturday to the prize drawing that was always held. They bought their clothes at Gosses(building gone now), groceries at Copelands(building gone now) and their animal feed at O'Daniels(building being torn down now). Kind of sad. The problem is employment. That is why I no longer live in that area(or even in Oklahoma). Lack of jobs is the problem for many a small town in the US, the jobs have either moved to the cities or out of country.
This is the 1st I have heard of my great grandparents,does anyone know whow they were?
This is from ancestery.com…. When the Marx family moved to Pottowatomie County, Oklahoma they lived most of the remainder of their life in Maude, OK. In Maude they Opened a small grocery/gas station on the old highway when it was still gravel. — with Angie Norbury and Judy Korten.
I went to school with a girl named Doreena Marx…maybe if you can find her she may know of your grandparents. She was about the same age as Penny O'Daniel the daughter of Ray and Betty O'Daniel. Good luck on your search.
Doreena Marx now Hooker is my mother
I went to school with a girl named Doreena Marx…maybe if you can find her she may know of your grandparents. She was about the same age as Penny O'Daniel the daughter of Ray and Betty O'Daniel. Good luck on your search.
Just saw a post from Suzy Marx Garner from Maud…posted on the page "You know your from Maud if"…maybe this is a long lost relative of yours…
My Dad loved this picture..It is his grandmother, Emma and her siblings. He remember quite well visiting Oscar and Ben. Ben lived in Maude until his passing. This is awesome.
I was so glad to find this blog!! My husband and I travel to Maud twice a month and we always wonder what happened there. It looks like it was at one time such a wonderful town!! Hope they will be able to see new growth! Thanks again!
I love the photos all of them, they have taken me down memories lane, I moved to Maud 1955 iI was in Mrs. Burton's 5th grade class and in my opinion she was the best teacher I had or can remember having. I mowed lawn all over Maud, attended Firs Church of God, Worked in O'Danial's Grocery enjoyed many days in the Irby Drug Store Cherry Cokes and Cherry Phosphates and read all their comic books, I also worked for Al in the Texaco Station, Maud was my town and when I had to move away January 1962 my junior year in high school to Pauls Valley, OK, I thought the world had come to an end, I have been in Pauls Valley almost 50 years and when people ask where I'm from I tell them I live in Pauls Valley but I am from Maud, Oklahoma, I am so glad to here about the new improvements and businesses, my thanks to all of the people of Maud that helped and treated me and my family so well during those 6 years.
Bruce Patton
Do you remember my husband Cecil flesher
Don't want to step on any toes, but who cares about the new bank? The old bank looks interesting, historic and very rare. New banks all look the same. There aren't very many left that look like Maud's original bank. Citizens of Maud, whatever you do, don't let the old bank disappear. If the structure fails, at least save the interior fixtures and furnishings and put it in a museum somewhere. Woodwork like that is almost priceless!
My grandparents and father were born in Maud. My grandmother told me that a tornado destroyed some of the buildings and a fire too. I don't remember which came first. At that time the buildings extended past the old car wash on Main Street. I used to walk along there and you could still see some of the names of the former stores on the pavement. My grandpa's family started and owned Hilton's Grocery in St. Louis. I lived in Maud from 1977 to 1986 as my former husband was from Maud.
I lived in Maud all my life until the last half of my senior year in high school. ( 1973-1974 ). I wouldn't trade the memories for anything. I know very little of whats become my classmates. I was in the high school looking at the senior pictures displayed in the hallway. It's amazing how the average class size of 32 to 35 dropped to about 16 in just 1 year or so never to be regained. Was there a mass exodus?
I agree with you Chris,I wouldn't trade my memories of Maud for anything. I was wondering if you are related to Mike McKinney? I ran around with him & got in trouble with him all the time……LOL
I know a Chris and Mike Mckinney as well, they are my uncles. I haven't been to Maud in ages, really need to make a trip soon.
Thanks Francis and So sorry I forgot the Fire Department. You are right about the Building and Equiptment but lets not forget to mention the Men who do their jobs when called upon. Our hats are off to them!!!!!
I am so proud of Sue Peters for the information about Maud. We lived in Maud from 1966-1978 and still have really good friends there. George opened the Automotive Dept.for Maud HighSchool and taught there until moving to Shawnee to contunue teaching at Gordon Cooper Vo-Tech. There are a lot of old building that need attention, but there are new buildings also and good people who are trying to build their life there. We have two great grandchildren who live there and their mother teaches at Maud Grade School. We hope and pray that the school does not close for the childrens sake. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson, another grandson, wife and two children live in Maud and are very happy there. I just hope and pray Maud continues to grow and if the ghost are very happy.. Thanks again Don and Sue for everything you all do for Maud. Oh yes they have one of best new Fire Department buildings and equitment in Pottawatomie County.
Hello, Your last name caught my attention as my maidan name was Dees, my dad's name was George Wayne, he had 2 brothers that had children they were Carl & Jesse. We lived in Tulsa,Ok but all of the older relatives lived in Durant, Tishamingo, Madill. If you are related in any way it would be nice to correspond with you. As our family was never close as far as visiting with one another. We are Choctaw/Miss Choctaw if this helps. Since Dees is rather an unusal name I just thought it would be interesting if we were related. Hope to hear from you. I will check this site later.:D
Maud will soon have another new building. First Baptist is in the process of building a beautiful new church. There old building is one of the most beautiful buildings, with lovely stain glass windows. We also have several other nice Churchs. In closing, I would like to invite everyone to come see our Museum. We are not your usual museum, but we tell the story of Maud and its people. One can travel to almost anywhere in the USA and start a conversation with people and before you know it, they know someone from Maud, or have lived in Maud, or have family still living in Maud. So come see our Museum and our town and learn about our people. Sue
We visited Maud Tuesday and walked the cemetery then returned Wednesday to see the Museum and check records at City Hall. Although the Museum was closed it is obvious the city has a rich history and we hope to learn more about the area if we get the opportunity to come again when it is open as several local residents mentioned the historical work being done. We are looking for more information about my father, Richard Bibb, who lived in Maud in the late 1920's and early 1930's. We believe his stillborn son born in 1929 and stillborn daughter born in 1932 are buried in the Cummings Cemetery but have not been able to locate grave sites for them nor their mother, Edith Marie Gowen Bibb, who died in 1933 in Maud.
Records or old newspapers might help so if you have any ideas, we will appreciate suggestions. We did check the cemetery register with the friendly help of the City Hall and none are listed for Bibb.
My dad, C. O. Bland was pastor of First Baptist from 1942 until 1946. We lived in the old building on the top floor. It was like a big apartment with a large kitchen, living room, and bedrooms. The church actually had two kitchens. The one on the top floor and one on the bottom floor, which could be called the basement. I was 5 years old when we moved there and spent the best 4 years of my life in the old church. Most people would not know there were two choir sections in the sanctuary. One was over the pulpit and was closed off when they put a false ceiling over the sanctuary. My favorite places in town were the two drugstores, Varner's 5 and 10, and the Arcadia Theater. At that time, the Arcadia would seat almost everyone in town. Whatever happened to it? I went back to Maud in 1997 and was able to go completely through the church. Some of the members were working there and let me go in. The top floor was closed off, but I was able to get in to see where I lived 50 years prior. Very nostalgic. Thank you, Gary Bland
So many memories at the church. Was there ever Sunday morning and evening . every Wednesday. Choir practice.
I know your article had to do with the decline of many Oklahoma towns. I only wish you would have mentioned our new buildings like Buddy's Hardware, Maud Food Center , City Hall and our newest, the Dollar General. Wanda Jackson is one of our best know citizens, but there are others. For instance, David Boren grew up visiting his grandparents who lived in Maud. Gov. Brad Henry's father, Charles graduated for Maud, he played basketball on the team my husband , Don played on. Gov. Henry's Grandparents taught at Maud and several other schools in the area.
My grandmother subbed all the time in the late 60’s and early 70’s
Our little town, like many others, has fallen on hard times. When the oil businesses left our area in the early l980s, we begin our decline. Our nursing home, which was one of the finest in the state, also closed several years ago and along with that went the jobs of many of our citizens. There are people here who still see what Maud could become if the right people would take an interest in the town. It would be wonderful to see people come in, purchuse, repair and occupy some of the abandoned buildings. The bank is still used for fund raisers . For the past 2 years the Historical Society has hosted a dinner and tour of the bank for a bikers riding club who chose to visit our original bank as part of their "Pretty Boy Floyd Ride". Pretty Boy robbed the bank Sept .29. 1931.
these pictures were in no way taken to out of disrespect for the town of maud or its people. this was more a piece on what the town has become and its history. the pictures were centered around the downtown area which has little to nothing going on. the buildings are in complete disrepair and have just been left to rot….just like in so many other small towns in oklahoma.
I think the argument being made is that what you didn't post pictures of tells as much about the current state of the community as the ones that were posted. Any way you want to look at it, Maud is a great home for those who want to be there, and it is viewed negatively by those who want to be somewhere else.
Exactly. And, I do believe, the old bank is owned by people who work very hard to preserve what history they can of the town. It hasn't been left to rot, nor has the museum.
I'm glad to see you thanked Sue Peters for sharing her time with you. From her, you should have realized there is still hope in this town. I understand you wouldn't be interested in pictures of the new bank; however, by showing pictures of the old bank, you've made it seem as if it were closed–or abandoned. There are many people, as Sue Peters, who still love this community and will never leave. There have been numerous additions to Maud recently. I can agree the town isn't as strong as it was during the oil-days, but I wouldn't consider it a ghost-town.
It's hard to say that we are on the verge of becoming a "ghost town" when we have a brand new Dollar General!!!!! That's right! In all seriousness, the town still has many citizens who care very much about the town. Unfortunately, all you see on the news and in the newspapers about the town are negative things. In my short lifetime, I have seen the town go down hill a bit, but I don't think we (our town and community) are on the verge of becoming extinct.
sorry you feel that way corey….however, not really interested in pictures of the new bank…..glad to see you completely missed the point of this.
The museum is in what was the drugstore. That fountain sure brings back memories!! My sisters and brother worked there, and the pharmacist (name???) is probably responsible for my two brothers becoming pharmacists.
A LOT of folks went on to important positions in life. Amazing.
The Pharmacist was Robert Monroe "Bob" Snelson. He practiced until he was 80 years old. Mr. Snelson was a Mason & was very active in the Rotary club & other civic activities. He served at least two terms as mayor of Maud. His wife was Verna Inona (Woodworth) Snelson. They had three children: Amy Claire Snelson, Robert Woodworth Snelson & Frankie Ruth Snelson. As of this writing, Amy & Frankie are deceased.
I lived in Maud from 1957 – 1964 when I was a child. I remember walking to O'Daniels and to the corner drugstore. There was a soda fountain there…
My dad was superintendent of schools, and his office was in the high school building. I spent many hours during the summers, wandering the halls of that school. It was really creepy–especially in the biology room! I don't know if the school is still in use, but if it's not, it's probably haunted!! lol
Yes, it is still in use, and it probably is haunted! The district wants to close it down because the bills are so high and there are not enough students in it to keep such a big building, but for now its still going. I hope they don't close it down then it will just be another beautiful building left to rot around here.
That is a beautiful building–I was just in it yesterday, interviewing for an opening.
well atleast you took pic of the worst possible shit in maud and the pics are terrible thats the old bank they built a new bank just down the street and both the bodkin furiture and the old texaco gas station was owned by junk dealer and thats is all his left over bull shit
Absolutely beautiful photography. Can you take pics from the street without trespassing? Thanx!
Yes Paula, I would imagine you could take lots of pics without tresspassing. Maud is still an active town. It is on the verge of becoming a ghost town though. I would visit the Historical Mueseum for more info a bout taking pics near the buildings
The people there are very welcoming to visitors, especially if you have questions about the town's history! The buildings themselves are unsafe and crumbling, so taking pictures outside, from a safe distance would be fine.
What a trip. Thanks so much for this post! I lived in Maud in the mid-late 70's as a youngster. Believe it or not the town was fairly bustling at the time. Many of those stores, and especially the bank, bring back so many memories. It's really hard to believe in just a few short years the town declined so much.