History

Fair Meadows Race Track in Tulsa hosts a variety of horse races in the warmer months. Photos courtesy Expo Square Oklahoma boasted a variety of interurban railway cars in the early twentieth century. Photo courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

of that.” ere are some things to remember when you rst visit a track. Lies reminds visitors who are close to the horses to be observers, and not to make too much noise. e observer will notice that the horses are all very healthy and well groomed; Oklahoma also has a thriving aftercare program, according to Lies. Many of the racers have a long, useful career as hunters, jumpers or pleasure horses after their racing days are done.

“People in [Oklahoma], they know horses. Oklahoma is a state of horses,” says Lies. “People here ... love them, they get them, they understand them, and so racing just ts into the culture. But it’s a really easy hobby to pick up, as far as coming out to the track, experiencing the horses in person.” BONNIE RUCKER

As trolley cars that ran on rails, early 20th century interurban cars often carried about 60 people. ese cars were cleaner than railroad compartments because they usually ran on electric power from overhead lines. ey were also created for passenger comfort. e words “interurban” and “streetcar” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, streetcars moved people short distances within a city. On the other hand, interurban cars were created for high-speed and long distance travel between urban areas.

Around 1900, interurbans became popular in the United States because they were important for urban development. Owned by various companies, they ran from, to, within, and through Oklahoma locations including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Sapulpa, Lawton, Okmulgee, Bartlesville, Ardmore, Enid, Miami and Muskogee, among others. Some were fully operational by Statehood Day in 1907. One interurban company transported soldiers from Fort Sill to Lawton and Medicine Park.

Although it began as a gasoline-powered railcar, by 1908 the El Reno Interurban Railway Company was operating as the “Electric Interurban.” Cars left El Reno’s Southern Hotel every hour from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. with stops in Banner, Yukon, Putnam City and Oklahoma City. e cars left Oklahoma City every hour from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. But in August 1911, the Oklahoma Railway Segregation on Transportation Company’s vast trolley empire acquired the El Reno Interurban. e interurban fare from Oklahoma City to Yukon was 50 cents one way, or 90 cents round trip.

Oklahoma gained statehood on November 16, Besides people, interurbans often carried 1907. On Dec. 18, 1907, the legislature’s first bill goods. Meat, vegetables, milk, newspapers and became law. other items were unloaded in Yukon each day

Senate Bill One, aka the “Coach Bill” or the onto the 40 x 50-foot dock on the northwest state’s first Jim Crow law, stated that “every end of the Yukon Interurban Depot. Delivery railway company, urban or suburban car company, street car or interurban car or railway company ... shall provide separate coaches or compartments as hereinafter provided for the men waited at the dock to unload the goods, and then haul them to Yukon and Piedmont merchants. Fred Maier was Yukon’s Interurban Depot agent from 1928 until 1946. When the trolley accommodation of the white and negro races, line closed down, Maier bought the property which separate coaches or cars shall be equal and the depot structure. e Maier family still in all points of comfort and convenience.” owns the historic Yukon Interurban Depot

The bill also required separate station wait- structure and the property on which it stands. ing rooms for black and white people. Black After World War II, many Oklahomans passengers boarded at the rear of the car, and had money to purchase their own vehicles. accommodations were not, in reality, equal. Also, roads improved, and bus lines pro-

Jim Crow laws involved societal segregation or discrimination against black people. In 1914, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the law constitutional, but reversed the decision in 1952. In vided more options. e Oklahoma Railway Interurban, from Oklahoma City to El Reno, ceased operations in 1946. Although most Oklahoma interurbans stopped operating in the 1940s, some did not cease operations 1962, the Oklahoma Legislature repealed public until 1960. transportation segregation statutes. CAROL MOWDY BOND