Volume 7 , Issue 50

Major County, Oklahoma Ghost Town - Phroso...

In Major County, Sec. 21,Twp 21N, Rge15WIM, 1 mile north, 19 miles west of Fairview, was the community (hamlet) of Phroso. On September 19, 1900 thru May 29, 1937 a post office was established.

The Ghost Towns of Oklahoma by John W. Morris describes Phroso as a somewhat typical community like many other numerous hamlets that developed in the dryer and rougher western part of the Cherokee Outlet.

It was soon after the Outlet was opened for settlement, that a small store was started. The area had no roads, and transportation, either on horseback or in a horse or ox-drawn vehicle, was slow going. The store prospered and expanded as those living in the vicinity traded there because of the difficulty of getting to a larger lace. Other businesses were attracted, accordingly. Soon a blacksmith shop had located nearby, and in 1900 a post office was located at the site. By 1905 a second blacksmith, a doctor who also started a drugstore, a shoe and boot maker, and a livestock dealer made their headquarters in Phroso. A few farmers built homes near the hamlet. A school was organized and a church started. In 1908 Phroso had a population of about sixty persons.

With the changing economic conditions and the technological advances since the late 1920s, plus the movement of population from rural to urban areas, hamlets like Phroso have disappeared. Much of the land formerly in crops has reverted to pasture. There is no longer a need for the store or the garage that eventually replaced the blacksmith shop. What does remain of Phroso? Does anyone out there have some recent digital photographs to share with us ALL out there? SEND your jpg files to Linda - Email: mcwagner.lk@gmail.com.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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