Editing Ardmore, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
[[File:ardmore ok5.jpg|thumb|left| Main and Washington streets, downtown Ardmore]]
Ardmore, [[Indian Territory]], began with a plowed ditch for a Main Street in the summer of 1887 in [[Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation]]. It owes much of its existence to the construction of the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] through the area during that time. It grew, as most frontier towns grew, over the years into a trading outpost for the region. A large fire in 1895 destroyed much of the fledgling town, which forced residents to rebuild nearly the entire town.<ref>Bamburg, Maxine. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AR008.html "Ardmore"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916000642/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AR008.html |date=September 16, 2009 }}, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed February 5, 2010).</ref> In the early 1900s, Ardmore became well known for its abundance of [[cotton]]-growing fields and eventually became known as the world's largest inland cotton port.

The city found itself positioned next to one of the largest oil fields ever produced in Oklahoma, the [[Healdton, Oklahoma|Healdton]] Oil Field. After its discovery in 1913, entrepreneurs and wildcatters flooded the area, and [[Carter County, Oklahoma|Carter County]] quickly became the largest oil-producing county in Oklahoma, and has remained so ever since.<ref name="carteroil">{{cite web|url=http://www.occeweb.com/Divisions/OG/AnnualReports/2006%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306054252/http://www.occeweb.com/Divisions/OG/AnnualReports/2006%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Report.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2007 |title=2005 Oil & Gas Annual Report (charting oil production from 1975-2005), Oklahoma Corporation Commission (PDF) |access-date=May 1, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ardmore has remained an energy center for the region ever since, with the region's natural wealth giving birth to such energy giants as the [[Noble Energy]] companies, among others. On September 27, 1915, a railroad car containing [[natural-gas condensate|casing gas]] exploded, killing 43 people, injuring many, and destroying much of downtown, including areas rebuilt after the 1895 fire.<ref>Burton, Laura M. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AR009.html Ardmore Gas Explosion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630194522/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AR009.html |date=2014-06-30 }}," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed February 5, 2010).</ref> The disaster, which made national news, gave residents the resolve to establish the city's first fire department to ensure that such events would not recur in the future. On April 22, 1966, Ardmore was the site of [[American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D|the worst plane crash in Oklahoma history]], which killed 83 people.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090107050851/http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=04221966&reg=N183H&airline=American+Flyers+Airline airdisaster.com]}}</ref> On May 7, 1995, an F3 tornado struck Ardmore, killing three people and injuring six others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=NOAA |title=Ardmore, Oklahoma Tornadoes (1875-Present) |url=https://www.weather.gov/oun/tornadodata-city-ok-ardmore |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=www.weather.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref>

===Sports===

Ardmore was home to [[minor league baseball]]. The [[Ardmore Cardinals]] was the primary name of Ardmore teams that played as members of the [[Texas League]] (1904), [[Texas-Oklahoma League]] (1911–1914), [[Western Association]] (1917), [[Texas-Oklahoma League]] (1921–1922), [[Western Association]] (1923), [[Oklahoma State League]] (1924),  Western Association (1924–1926), [[Sooner State League]] (1947–1957) and Texas League (1961). Ardmore captured league championships in 1923, 1925 and 1957. Ardmore was an affiliate of the [[Cleveland Indians]] (1947–1948), [[St. Louis Cardinals]] (1953–1957) and [[Baltimore Orioles]] (1961).{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

[[Baseball Hall of Fame]] inductee [[Carl Hubbell]] played for the [[Ardmore Bearcats]] in 1924, his first professional season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=hubbel001car|title=Carl Hubbell Minor Leagues Statistics & History|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>