Carter County, Oklahoma History And Genealogy

Carter County was created in 1907 from part of the old Chickasaw Nation. Pickens County was renamed Carter County in honor of Ben Carter, prominent Native American of the Chickasaw Nation.

Members of the Constitutional Convention chose Ardmore as the county seat because it was the largest town in that section of the new state and the site of a federal court during the territorial era.

The first county officials used office space in the former federal courthouse building, which had been constructed in 1898 for $20,000. It soon proved to be too small for county needs, so in 1909 Carter County residents approved a $125,000 bond issue to purchase land and fund construction of a new building.

The firm of Layton, Wemyss Smith and Hawk of Oklahoma City developed the plans and the job was completed in 1910 by the Gill Construction Company.

The design was a rich combination of architectural elements. The dominant style was Neo-Classical, with repetitious use of colossal Doric columns, classical detailing, and an ornate tower and dome. The tower was decorated with Ionic columns, a ribbed and vaulted roof, and over-sized clocks. Providing contrast against this classical composition were arched doorways and windows on the ground level.

In 1976, using the design of Flood, Isenberg, and Hann, the entire courthouse was renovated.

Ardmore	Baum	Berwyn	Boland
Brock	Chagris	Cheek	Crinerville
Deese	Dresden	Durwood	Elk
Folian	Fox	Gap	Glenn
Graham	Healdton	Hewitt	Hoxbar
Keller	Lone Grove	Lou	Milo
Monk	Mulkey	Newport	Pooleville
Provence	Reck	Sneed	Springer
Tatums	Tussy	Wheeler	Wilson
Woodford	Wyatt	Yellow Hills

Carter County Government	Oklahoma Genealogy	Fire of 1895	Carter County Schools	The Arbuckle Mountains
Carter County Newspapers	Greater Southwest Historical Museum/Genealogical Lib.	Explosion of 1915	Carter County Court Records	Turner Falls Gem of the Arbuckles
Carter County Libraries	Oklahoma Historical Society	The Mercy Engine	Carter County Funeral Homes	Old 700 Ranch House
Carter County Cemeteries	Oklahoma Genealogical Soc.	Tornado of 1946	Old Soldiers Home	Hardy Murphy
Love County Cemeteries	Obituaries	Ardmore Army Airbase	Hardy Sanitarium	Chickasaw Nation Historical Research
Cemeteries of Oklahoma	Saving Graves	Butch Bridges Carter Co Historian	Confederate Veterans	Oklahoma Family Group Sheets

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