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Edmond Firsts  Edmond
began as a water and coaling station for steam engines when the Santa
Fe Railroad built into Indian Territory in 1887. Edmond Burdick, the
Santa Fe’s traveling freight agent, was the namesake of the railroad’s
Edmond Station. The name was retained by the first settlers when the
town was established April 22, 1889.
First
Church – St. John the Baptist Catholic Church – completed
and dedicated June 24, 1889. It was located on the southwest corner
of East First and South Boulevard. This was the first church building
constructed in the Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory. (Old Oklahoma
or the Oklahoma District).First
Newspaper – The Edmond Sun – established by
Milton W. "Kicking Bird" Reynolds on July 18, 1889. It is
the oldest continuous newspaper dating from Oklahoma Territorial days.First
Public Schoolhouse – completed August 1889 – located just
west of the southwest corner of East Second and South Boulevard. This
was the first public schoolhouse built in Oklahoma Territory. It is
now the vacant Sanders Camera Shop.First
classes for the Territorial Normal School (University of Central Oklahoma)
were held November 9, 1891, in the Methodist Church on the southwest
corner of North Broadway and West Hurd. Old North, the Territorial
Normal School’s first building was opened for classes on January
2, 1893, and ahead of Stillwater’s Oklahoma State University’s
Central Hall.Gracelawn
Cemetery was established by the citizens of Edmond in April 1895 and
located at the northwest corner of East Danforth and North Boulevard.
It replaced Edmond’s first cemetery (1889-1895) that was illegally
placed in an area of the school land section on the east side of South
Rankin from Second to Fifth Streets.First
Telephone System in Edmond began in January 1902 with Bell Tuttle
as the "hello" girl.In
1902 the City Council ordered that all sidewalks were to be built
of brick, asphalt or flagstone.First
Edmond Fire Company organized in 1903 with John Sumner as captain.In 1905, after two houses burned to the ground, the City Council issued an ordinance that every occupant of lots on Broadway were to keep a barrel of water and one peck of salt on hand in case of an emergency. First
Automobile in Edmond – July 1905 – a Tonneau Runabout owned
by Dr. O’Toole.First
Natural Gas Line brought to Edmond from Oklahoma City oil fields in
1908.In 1908 Edmond voters approved a water works bond for a New Water System built in 1908-09. Edmond’s first city water tower erected on West Fourth Street. City water mains laid, first sewage system installed, first electric light utilities and first ice plant established at this time. First
Concrete Block City Hall completed September 1910. (Replaced the frame
Town Hall on the eastside of the unit block of South Broadway). The
two-story improvement utilized half of its lower floor as a fire station
and a jail cell, with offices for the mayor and city clerk and a very
modern indoor toilet on the second floor. It was located on the northwest
corner of East First and South Littler.First
Bunting-covered Interurban Railway Cars arrived in Edmond from Oklahoma
City on May 29, 1911.Information compiled October 1992 by Lucille Warrick.  Back
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