Medicine Park
Medicine Park[dead link] is a town of 450 people (2019) in the Great Plains Country region of southwest Oklahoma just north of the Fort Sill Military Reservation. Medicine Park is in Comanche County, in the Wichita Mountains near the entrance to the 60,000-acre Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. Many of the original structures are constructed out of naturally formed granite cobblestones. These red granite cobblestones are unique to the Wichita Mountains.
Understand
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It was founded on July 4, 1908 by Oklahoma Senator Elmer Thomas, and was Oklahoma's first planned tourism resort.
Medicine Park has grown into an arts community with several artists in residence including sculptors, fine artists, graphic designers, musicians including street theater actors. There are outdoor concerts at the Park Tavern throughout the summer. The population was 450 in 2019.
History
[edit]The community has a rich and colorful history. It was founded by Elmer Thomas, a young lawyer who had just become the first senator of Oklahoma.
In the spring of 1906, five years after the establishment of the Wichita Mountains National Forest, Thomas envisioned the need for a recreational area and for a permanent water source for the budding and newly founded City of Lawton. Over a period of a few years, he and a partner, Hal Lloyd from Altus, quietly purchased approximately 900 acres of what is now the cobblestone community of Medicine Park.
When the resort opened, it consisted of a large surplus Army tent with a wooden floor where hot meals were served. Two dams were constructed on Medicine Creek to form Bath Lake Swimming Hole and a few campsites were built. Over a period of approximately 4 years, numerous improvements were added, and the area began to take on the look and feel of a bona fide resort.
About this same time, numerous such resorts were opening near the entries of other newly founded National Parks and National Forests all across the country. The American public held a remarkable fascination with nature. The coming of the automobile gave unprecedented access to the country's natural wonders. Resorts began springing up nationwide to provide these new found "tourists" with food, lodging and entertainment.
Tourists flocked to the area from around the state and North Texas to enjoy the mountains, wildlife, swimming, good food and lodging. Soon, there were two inns -- the Outside Inn and the Apache Inn (which used to be the Press Association Clubhouse) -- Baird's Health Sanitarium (which featured clay tennis courts and a spa) -- a dance hall, the Medicine Park Lodge (atop Mount Dunbar), a canteen, petting zoo, bath house, general store, school, bait shop, hydro electric power plant and the infamous Dam Café. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (the kings of western swing) became regulars at the dance hall from 1929 through the late 1930s. Numerous other famous bands of the day made their way through Medicine Park in route to big city venues in Oklahoma City, Dallas and Fort Worth.
The entire Bath Lake Park was landscaped with beautiful gardens, large trees, foot bridges and grassy areas for visitors to lounge around, sunbathe and enjoy the natural beauty. The area flourished during the late teens to the 1940s as the "Jewel of the Southwest."
The nearby Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and Lake Lawtonka attracted thousands of people each weekend and throughout the seasons. Medicine Park became the "playground" for the State's rich, famous and notorious. Folks would come to town for the weekend and leave their "work-a-day" world, troubles and reputations behind them. Outlaws and horse thieves mixed with noted politicians and businessmen, soldiers and officers from Fort Sill, families and socialites in this new cobblestone community. The pages of the Town's colorful history are filled with the likes of Will Rogers, Wiley Post, Frank Phillips, Bob Wills, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Lil Hardin, Colonel Jack Abernathy, Les Brown, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and countless others.
Get in
[edit]Medicine Park is near the city of Lawton and Fort Sill. Interstate 44 runs north-south just to the east of Medicine Park. State Hwy 49 runs east-west and can be accessed from I44. Medicine Park is at the main entry to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, the second most visited wildlife refuge in the country - hosting more than 1.5 million visitors annually.
Get around
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See
[edit]- 1 Gondola Lake and Dam.
- 2 Lake Lawtonka Dam, 82 East Lake Drive.
- 3 Lake Drive. Keep an eye out for white-tailed deer when not looking at the lake as this road hugs the shore of Lake Lawtonka.
- 4 Buffalo Sculpture, 130 East Lake Drive.
- 5 Medicine Park Aquarium and Natural Sciences Center, 1 Aquarium Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-3601.
- 6 Medicine Creek's Auto Bridge, East Lake Drive. Access to Lake Elmer Thomas and Wichita Mountains
- 7 Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area, 7463 Deer Creek Canyon Road, Fort Sill, ☏ +1 580 442-5858.
- 8 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, OK-49 & OK-115 State Highway Cache, ☏ +1 580 429-2197.
- 9 Meers, HC 30, ☏ +1 580 429-8051. A former gold-mining town turned restaurant destination.
Do
[edit]- 1 Bath Lake Swimming Area (Medicine Park Bath Lake Area), 130-140 East Lake Drive.
- 2 Medicine Park Main Outdoor Soundstage (Medicine Park Annual Festivals), 191 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 458-2596.
- 3 Medicine Park Primitive Campground (Medicine Creek’s Primitive Campground), ☏ +1 580 529-2825.
- Medicine Park Trail.
- 4 Medicine Park Trout Area, 162-180 East Lake Drive.
You can also possibly watch the Spirit of Survival Marathon or Tour de Meers if your stay happens to coincide with these.
Buy
[edit]- Chaps My Ass, 205B E. Lake, ☏ +1 580 529-2248. A biker apparel shop.
- Cobblestone Creamery, 139 Upper E Lake Dr Suite B, ☏ +1 580-529-2911.
- The Laughing Lizard Trading Post, ☏ +1 580 574-1318.
- Happy Hollow, Hwy 49, ☏ +1 580 529-2817.
Eat
[edit]- 1 Chad's El Sabores Mexican Restaurant, 18493 State Highway OK-49, ☏ +1 580 529-9999.
- 2 Cobblescones Coffee and Pastry, 172 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 730-3166.
- 3 Cobblestone Creamery, 139 Upper East Lake Drive Suite B, ☏ +1 580 529-2911.
- 4 Joe Mountain Breakfast Bar, 204 East Lake Drive.
- 5 Mrs. Chadwick's Bakery, 153 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-3694.
- 6 Riverside Café, 180 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-2626.
- 7 Small Mountain Street Tacos, 172 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 574-5374.
- 8 The Old Plantation Restaurant, 143 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-6262. A famous restaurant whose past is colored with the stories of being a speakeasy and stopover for wild types like Bonnie and Clyde, but today it is also well known for appetizing food and warm ambience and cobblestone construction.
Drink
[edit]- 1 AP's Club, 18314 State Highway 49, ☏ +1 580 529-2260.
- 2 Park Tavern, 198 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-2555.
- 3 Up the Creek Spirits, 213 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-0009.
Sleep
[edit]Medicine Park has wonderful lodging from historic cabins to Bed & Breakfasts. You will find a variety of accommodations available.
- 1 Bonnie and Clyde Cottage, 122 West Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 284-3580.
- 2 Buffalo Gap (Trail Head Cabin), 227 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 284-3580.
- 3 Cobblestone Cottage, 176 West Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 704-9557.
- 4 Grandma's Cabins, 113 E Lake Dr, ☏ +1 580 284-3580.
- 5 Medicine Creek Lodging Bed and Breakfast, 188 Tin Can Alley, ☏ +1 580 529-2248.
- 6 The Plantation Inn (1916 Oklahoma Press Association's Clubhouse), 195 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 529-6161.
- 7 The Twins (The Red & Green Door Cabins), 162 Tin Can Alley, ☏ +1 580 529-6161.
- 8 Wichita Mountain Lodge (Wichita Mod Lodge), 425 East Lake Drive, ☏ +1 580 574-1099.