Images of America: Guthrie and Logan County” by Glen V. McIntyre.

I have recently picked up a book called: “Images of America: Guthrie and Logan County” by Glen V. McIntyre.
As many of you know, Guthrie was the political and cultural center of first the territory of Oklahoma from before statehood 1890 to 1907, then the state of Oklahoma until 1910. In fact, my house is only a block from the old state legislature, which only met once. Now, it’s part of the Scottish Rite Temple.
Guthrie is lucky to exist, in fact, had the Santa Fe not built their north to south line two years earlier, many of the first settlers would not have made it through the first winter. The Depot itself was a site for many settlers and they came by train. A photograph on page 11 showed soldiers guarding the trains to make sure one got off before high noon on April 22, 1889.
At the time when Guthrie was Oklahoma’s center, the city attracted architects who built impressive buildings, such as Joseph Foucart, who we will at some point honor with his own park when the private fundraising dollars are raised.
This book is focused not only on Guthrie, but others in Logan County are prominent: Marshall (home of Angie Debo, an important Oklahoma historian), Langston (home of Oklahoma's first black university), Mullhall, Orlando, Crescent, Meridian, and Coyle, as well as many towns that did not survive.
The book is filled with pictures that encompass early Logan County with topics such as towns, making a life, transportation, churches and schools, people, and at leisure. For example, on page 110, I found the “Race track in West Guthrie” and others waiting to try the natural springs at the Gazebo in Mineral Wells park.
It’s an interesting book worth hours of enjoyment and a way to capture the history of where you live.