An Apartment in Ardmore

The apartment building at 202 N Washington in Ardmore was once a home for middle-class people; by the 1930s, it housed several single, professional women. By the 1950s, it had become a multi-unit dwelling.

At the corner of NE 2nd Avenue and North Washington in Ardmore (Carter County, Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation) stands this three story brick apartment building. Built in either the late 1910s or early 1920s, it once housed middle class residents, who would hire housekeepers in exchange for room and board. Next door to this building -- its address is 202 N. Washington -- was a similar structure, which has since been torn down, but its stairs still remain. Across the street was the town's large high school for white students.

A sales listing for this building (currently on the market for $140,000) says it was built in 1953, but I think the later year reflects a substantial renovation project in which the building was converted into 14 different units instead.

My favorite memento about this building comes from the Daily Ardmoreite's feature, "A Page of Homemakers." In 1937, Anita Jordan, a stenographer who lived at 202 North Washington, shared her recipe for Home-Coming Cake, which used White Wave Flour (milled in Ardmore) and Colvert's buttermilk (from Ardmore's Colvert's dairy) AND all of the ingredients came from English Village Grocery, which stood across the street from the Von Keller Hospital at 1026 12th Avenue NW.

Fun research for a once-fine place!

A Sanborn map of the apartments at 202 N Washington in Ardmore from 1918.

In 1937, Anita Jordan, who worked as a stenographer, shared her recipe for Home-Coming Cake in the Daily Ardmoreite. Anita lived in the apartment building at 202 N Washington.