Vernon is an

Incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United Kingdom United States An in ...

. Incorporated in 1985 as the "Town of Vernon" in McIntosh County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, United States. Its elevation is 696 feet (212 m).

History

Vernon was plotted in 1910 and established in 1911 as an all-black community, it became an incorporated town in 1985 and is one the thirteen remaining All Black towns of Oklahoma. It was named for Bishop

William Tecumseh Vernon William Tecumseh Vernon (July 11, 1871 – July 25, 1944) was an American educator, minister and bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who served as president of Western University beginning in 1896 and Register of the Treasury from 190 ...

of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

. The

Fort Smith and Western Railway The Fort Smith and Western Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The railroad's main line extended from Coal Creek, Oklahoma (about 7 miles east of Bokoshe, Oklahoma) to Guthrie, Oklahoma, with an addit ...

, which opened in 1899 and closed in 1939, operated through the town. The FS&W served major coal mining operations in eastern Oklahoma at Coal Creek,

Bokoshe Bokoshe ( ) is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma metropolitan statistical area. ''Bokoshe'' is a Choctaw word meaning "little creek". The population was 512 at the 2010 census, a 13. ...

and McCurtain. Other towns served included

Crowder Crowder may refer to: Places in the United States *Crowder, Oklahoma * Crowder, Mississippi * Crowder, Missouri *Crowder College Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newt ...

, Okemah,

Boley Boley may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Bruno A. Boley (1924–2017), longtime Dean of Engineering at Northwestern University * Donna Boley (born 1935), American politician * George Boley (born 1949), Liberian politician and former rebel leader * Jo ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Vernon, Indianola and

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

. A major portion of the road's freight traffic was metallurgical-grade coal from San Bois Coal Company mines near McCurtain. However, the railroad was ultimately abandoned after the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. A post office was established in 1912. Several post masters presided throughout the years. Ella Woods was the first and Mrs. Tennie Baccus Dozier Walker was the last. She retired around 1991, and several temporary workers kept it open for several months, until it was finally closed when the postal service consolidated all workers under the civil service dept and began eliminating and consolidating small town post offices across the state. It was originally housed in a small frame building on Broadway, until the retirement of Mrs. Woodard then was moved across the street to Crawford Dozier's 2 story rock building when Mrs. Tennie Baccus Dozier became Postmaster. The 2-story rock building began as a Shoe store and Dry Goods store in 1915 and has been many things through the years, including recreation center, Rock Front Club, a tavern and pool hall, Post Office, and finally Mr. G's Grocery Store operated by George Dozier Sr. until his death in 2000. Mrs. Tennie Baccus Dozier Walker had Billy Dozier convert it from a 2-story building to the current 1 story building around 1974. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984. The town is also home to the Vernon Duty Hill Cemetery.

References

External links

Vernon’s Rock Front Post Office – Historical Information
from okstate.edu

from okstate.edu {{authority control Unincorporated communities in McIntosh County, Oklahoma Unincorporated communities in Oklahoma Populated places in Oklahoma established by African Americans African diaspora history Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links