Muddy Muskogee Streets

Ladies, this is why your great-grandmother wore high-top shoes. The streets of Muskogee used to be muddy.

Campbell Russell is in this 1888 photograph taken by J. F. Standiford. Russell thought the streets needed paving. To make his point, he retrieved his fishing pole and went "fishin" at Main and West Okmulgee streets.

William S. Hart, a prominent actor in his day, described the Muskogee of 1894 as "a small place with board sidewalks and dirt streets." Obviously little had improved in the previous six years.

At first, working to improve the streets involved just filling in the ruts. To some extent, building up the low spots removed the fishing holes. The ruts and low spots usually returned, however, when freight wagons passed through town during a wet spell.

Street conditions did not begin to change until 1898 when the founding fathers decided to incorporate the community. Experience up until then showed that individual effort produced only temporary improvements.

Following the incorporation the new council members began addressing the needs of the town. Ordinance No. 16 was an enactment requiring men between the ages of 18 and 45 to work on the streets and alleys for two days out of the year.

There were exceptions. Only men who resided in town thirty days or more were required to work on the byways. In addition to the non-residents, the handicapped were also exempted.

Residents could also avoid working on the streets when called upon by the town's street commissioner by paying $3.00 before September. But, heaven help you if you failed to show for duty or disrupted the work somehow.

The penalty for these infractions was severe. The fine was $25.00 that could be worked out by working on the streets. Each day of street work reduced the fine by $3.00. Ironically, it would take over eight days to pay off a fine for missing two days of work.

Today, streets have sloped sides so that water will run toward the curbs. There, storm water drains allow the water to flow through a sewer to a nearby creek. The roadways are usually paved with asphalt, concrete, brick or stone.

This development evolved through trial and error all across the country. The next time you see a street department worker, thank him or her for what they and their predecessors have accomplished.

FOOTNOTE: Crime may have been the major cause for the incorporation of Muskogee. But, certainly, a contributing factor was the need for improved street conditions.