Edmond History

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 at 124 East Second Street, just west of the southwest corner of East Second and South Boulevard. This was the first public schoolhouse built in Oklahoma Territory. The Edmond Historic Preservation Trust has restored the schoolhouse to its original state.  The schoolhouse is open to the public the first two Saturdays of each month from 1-4 or by appointment.  It is also open regularly for 3rd and 4th grade field trips.

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.