Lost Generation | Medicine Park, Oklahoma
This is third in a series of picture posts featuring pages from the WWI-era photo album I found at Mary’s Flea Market in Oklahoma City. This selection features historic images of Houston’s Settegast Park and Bath Lake in Medicine Park, Oklahoma.
Click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 2. All posts are tagged World War I.
Settegast Park | Houston, Texas
Settegast Park in Houston, Texas is located in the Settegast neighborhood of Houston. The neighborhood was developed by William Settegast, a wealthy real estate investor, in 1892. Many of the pictures in the album appear to have been taken in this park in 1918.
Page 24 of the album has a reference to Logan on one of the photos. I believe this is referring to the American Red Cross Headquarters and Buildings, 33rd Division, Camp Logan, Houston, Texas. Throughout the album, there are many pictures of Red Cross volunteers in white habits.
Caption: “City Park” (Page 23)
Page 24 | Captions L to R: 1) 5-12-18 Opening Red Cross Building Logan 2) June 4, 1918, Sylvan Beach 3) City Park 4) Billy Reese
June 3, 1918 (Page 25)
Page 26 | Captions L to R: 2) June 30, 1918 4) JR?? Bal
Page 27 | Caption L to R: 5) City Park June 9, 1918
L to R: 1) City Park Houston 3) City Park Houston (Page 28)
Captions L to R: 2) June 1918 6) City Park Houston (Page 29)
Page 30
Vintage Red Cross Photos, World War I / Captions L to R: 2) Battle Grounds 6) Lubbock St. (Page 31)
Page 32 | Captions L to R: 1) Gun Club Rd 2) Med-Park Ft. Sill, Oklahoma 4) Settegast Park, Vintage Houston
LaGrange, Texas, June 23 1918; Let’s not forget the beloved horses, Maude and Beck! Also, photos 1 and 3 appear to have been taken at the beach in Galveston’s Electric Park. (Page 33)
Captions L to R: 2) Alfred A. Otto (Page 34)
Bath Lake | Medicine Park, Oklahoma
Two of my favorite photos in the album are of Bath Lake in Medicine Park, Oklahoma. The men in these pictures would most definitely have been soldiers from nearby Fort Sill Army Base. Also, if you look closely at the second picture, you will see women, too, wearing Victorian bathing suits and swim bonnets.
World War 1 Soldiers and Girlfriends enjoy Bath Lake at Medicine Park, Oklahoma
Historic Photo of Bath Lake, Medicine Park, Oklahoma near Ft. Sill Army Base
Fort Sill Army Base
I have made many trips to Medicine Park over the years. It is a cobblestone town located in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains. It has quite a history, as recorded by the Town and the Oklahoma Historical Society. There are various photos throughout the album of Ft. Sill Army Base, I am going to assume that the album’s original owner settled in Oklahoma City following the war. I didn’t ask the two men selling the album for any information about it. I sure wish I had. Also, I am also still kicking myself for not buying the 1950s scrapbook they were selling. They only wanted $25 for it but I gave them all the cash I had on me for this album.
I don’t find much at the flea market these days and I haven’t been in quite sometime. In the past, I have found many wonderful treasures but I always feel a little sad when I come across someone who is selling something precious because they need the money. On one of my last trips, I bought a beautiful brown suede person with fringe. It was very hippie! The woman selling it was in her 60s and she told me she’d had the purse since she was 16-years-old. I know it meant a lot to her because it was in perfect condition.
Flea Market Find, by Gwen D. F. Haaland (Excerpt)
Like lost spirits from an attic of the past.
Each one discarded, but still bursting with secrets
and stories to be shared.
Excerpts of history and timepieces of fiction intermixed.
From brittle yellow pages,
their silent voices cried out to beheard.
I listened and learned.
I rescued and adopted them as children,
nearly lost to a life of neglect…