THIS CACHE REQUIRES NO CLIMBING.
Bring your own pen and a good set of eyeballs. Feel free to bring a lunch and eat it at the picnic table, or enjoy the town's establishments. As mentioned in cache attributes, stealth is required for this one as it can be a busy place.
This cache is within view of the old Baker's Switch on Route 66, which can still be seen today. Currently the plans for the building is to restore it and turn it into Kellyville Historical Museum. The host for the cache is a common sight for oil-boom areas like Kellyville. Read further for more information about Kellyville.
Kellyville is a town located in Creek County which is Creek Nation (American Indian) area. Like many other towns and cities in this area, Kellyville first became part of the Territory of the United States with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and became Indian Territory in the 1820's. By 1842, all the land of present day Oklahoma except the panhandle and the southwest corner was owned by the Five Civilized Indian Tribes (Cherokee, Muskogee/Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole). The area where Kellyville developed was occupied by the Muskogee Creek Nation. Then the Civil War occurred, and altogether 16 Civil War battles were fought in Indian Territory. Indian Territory became a noman's land and raiders from both North and South carried away bounty, drove away the livestock, and set fire to the homes.
After the Civil War, the establishment of the town of Kellyville was closely related to the St. Louis and San Francisco (FRISCO) Railroad. This railroad extended its line to Tulsa in 1882 and to Sapulpa in 1886. By 1889 the railroad had built its line past the present location of Kellyville.
George Baker married a lady that was a mixture of Creek Indian and Negro, and Mrs. Baker claimed Creek Indian land where part of the town of Kellyville is now located. They constructed a large 2-story wood frame house and when the railroad was built the house stood only a few yards west of the railroad track. Since this was the only dwelling near the railroad, trains often stopped here and passengers and goods were loaded and unloaded at this stop. The place was then designated "Baker's Switch," and this was the first name given to the Kellyville area.
In the early 1890's, a merchant named Jim Kelly leased a location from the Indian Agency in Muskogee and established a trading post about one mile south-east of Baker's Switch. In 1893 Kelly made a deal with the FRISCO Railroad to move the trading post near the railroad track east of Baker's Switch. In return, the town would be named after him. Kelly moved the trading post building by wagon, pulled by mules, three-fourths of a mile north to the new location, which became known as the Kelly Mercantile General Store. The store served an extensive area of Indian and white farmers and business flourished. Later a single-story wood frame building was built on the location. A railroad depot was soon built and several businesses were established along with a post office.
In the days before highways were numbered, the major roadway between Bristow and Sapulpa was named Ozark Trail. Upon approaching Kellyville from Bristow, the Ozark Trail crossed the railroad just west of the Devonian Petroleum Plant and extended eastward, then turned north and came into Kellyville on Main Street. Highway 66 was built in the mid 1920's and followed the Ozark Trail in some places.
In 1917, Kellyville became the site of the most tragic railroad accident ever to occur in Oklahoma. On September 28, 1917, a head-on collision between No. 407 of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad and an empty troop train, returning from Fort Sill killed 32 people and injured more than 50 others, some of them seriously. For a while, it was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the worst train wreck in history.
By the late 1920s, the town had grown to 30 businesses including two hotels, a movie house, a confectionery, a dance hall, a refinery, two restaurants, a feed mill, and telephone service.
In the winter of 1970, Ski Valley opened outside of town. It was a ski slope on J.D. Goodman's hill. The slope was equipped with a ski lift and machine-made snow. The slope got a lot of media attention, but was short-lived because of the unusually warm winter that year,
Each year, on the 2nd Saturday in June, Kellyville Heritage Days festival is held. During that time, the town of Kellyville celebrates the rich history and people of the surrounding area. Kellyville Heritage Days Foundation also puts together a Music Night every 2nd Saturday of the month from 6pm-9pm with free live band music and social gathering, harkening back to the days when on Saturdays the townspeople would put together a dance at someone's home. Kellyville Heritage Days Foundation also put up the host of this cache, the LED sign that announces Kellyville activities and other happenings, as well as the picnic table. We also have plans for other ways to help the community.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your caching.