Commerce

Beginning in April 1889, trains carrying various business owners and building supplies began arriving at the Edmond Depot ready to set up trade for Edmond’s settlers. These businesses provided the necessities of life -food, clothing and shelter. Carving a city out of the prairie was not an easy task. The new settlers of the Oklahoma frontier soon were able to buy necessities from dry good and grocery stores. The town grew as buildings were erected using wood purchased from local lumber stores. An interesting combination of services was the hardware, furniture and undertaking business. This partnership was due to the fact that both early furniture and coffins were constructed of wood and held together using material from the hardware store.

Ice, a luxury, was brought to town by train. Ice wagons made daily deliveries to homeowners who placed a card in the front window of their home to signal whether 25, 50, 75 or 100 pounds of ice were needed.

Edmond’s first theatre was the Opera House located at about 213 S. Broadway. Around 1917, W.Z. Spearman opened the Gem Theatre on Broadway. He bought two additional lots next to the building to set up an outdoor screen, making one of the first drive-in movie theatres. In 1935-36, Spearman built the Broncho Theater. The Edmond Hospital opened in 1947 in the second story above the Broncho Theatre.

Early doctors were called upon to treat every type of disease, injury, and illness. The Edmond Historical Society Research Library, located in the northeast corner of the building, has a nice collection of books from Dr. A.M. Ruhl, an early Edmond Doctor.

The original buildings which housed Peoples Bank and Citizens Bank can still be seen today at Broadway and First in downtown Edmond. Another early building that can be seen today is the first Oklahoma Territorial Schoolhouse also known as Sanders Camera Shop.