Volume 10 , Issue 19

Doby Springs (Bellaire), OK

Last weekend or so we mentioned the passing of an old family friend from Waynoka, OK, Celinda Kelsey (Obituary).

We know she was born around Doby Springs, Harper Co., OK. I am told that our dad (Gene McGill) used a unique pet name for Celinda, such as the, "Squaw from Doby Springs" ... Or something like that.

In our hardback book, published in 1977, Ghost Towns of Oklahoma by John W. Morris, page 69, states that Doby Springs (Bellaire), Oklahoma, was located in Harper County, Sec. 10-27N-24WIM, 7-1/2 miles West of Buffalo.

The Post Office was established January 13, 1908 thru April 29, 1922. The newspaper was The Monitor.

The Doby Springs area was well known to cattlemen before the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893. Drovers following the Great Western Cattle Trail to northern markets often camped near the springs. The first patent to land around Doby Springs was issued in 1901, but the townsite was not surveyed until 1907.

When land in the Cherokee Outlet was organized into counties, all of what is now Harper County was included in Woodward County. The Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, however, outlined the boundaries for Harper County and named Buffalo the county set. As soon as this fact became known, several towns, some newly organized, prepared to contest Buffalo.

After its founding in 1907, Doby Springs continued to grow and expand. Plans for future growth were carefully kept before the public throughout the county by columns printed in The Montior, especially since the time was drawing near for the selection of the county set by popular vote. By 1909 Doby Springs had a population in excess of 250. (Buffalo was not much larger.) In addition to the usual stores and shops the town had a telephone exchange, a foundry, a cotton gin (probably the most northern one ever built in Oklahoma), and a doctor.

The Congregational Academy, although it existed for only one term, offered good educational advantages in 1908. Buffalo, however, won the election probably because it was nearer the center of the county. The decline of Doby Springs started shortly thereafter. By 1912 population had decreased to fifty persons and within a few years the town ceased to exist.

The Doby Springs are now owned by the city of Buffalo and furnish water for that community. A well-kept park has been developed around the springs and is well used.
  |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

---