HISTORY

In the Spring of 1889, the South Canadian River, bordering Noble on the west, was unbridged and treacherous. Quicksand could cause instant disappearance of both man and beast. Flash floods and raging walls of water swept away everything in their path. Crossing this river was very dangerous and more than one life was lost in the attempt.

Albert Rennie

However, danger was no deterrent to J.W. Klinglesmith, Albert Rennie and several other businessmen, all who believed the location was the ideal spot for spanning the river and creating a thriving market center. In fact, Rennie, an attorney from White Bead Hill, was so sure about his location for Noble that he had a town site plat drawn up and even convinced railroad authorities to choose his location for a town instead of theirs, which was two miles south of Noble’s current location.

Consequently, on April 22, 1889, the day the land run opened the Indian Territory to settlers, Rennie, Klinglesmith and their group of followers forded the river and laid claim to the 160-acre town site which was to become Noble, Oklahoma. The town was named in honor of Secretary of Interior John Noble, who was instrumental in opening the land for settlement. The group had great plans for Noble, hoping it would become the future county seat. The town quickly became a thriving business center with two cotton gins, a grain elevator and a general store.

James E. Noble

Noble Depot

The Santa Fe Railroad completed a railroad depot in August 1889. For several years, Noble was a major shipping point for cattle and other goods from both sides of the Canadian River.

Business got even better when Charles Edwin Garee built a new suspension toll bridge across the Canadian River in 1898. The day the bridge was opened, several hundred people gathered on the Chickasaw side of the bridge to celebrate. That day, everyone crossed the bridge free of charge.

1898 Bridge

In 1899, Francis Albert Garee began developing and shipping varieties of seedlings, trees and shrubs all over Oklahoma. The Noble Nursery was one of Noble’s earliest businesses and existed until 1970. Other businesses included Bob Stogner’s barbershop, Smith Hardware Store and W.J. Scott’s brickyard.

The suspension bridge washed out in 1904 and other communities began developing nearby. The last passenger train stopped in Noble in 1944 and the depot was moved away. Today, Noble remains an active family community with a population of about 5,260 people.

In the 1800’s gold was found in Georgia. Despite a decision in favor of the Cherokee Indians by the Supreme Court, President Andrew Jackson ignored the government’s treaties and ordered the removal of the Cherokees and other Indian tribes from their eastern homelands. Thousands died along this treacherous journey to Oklahoma, which would later be known as the "Trail of Tears."

Legend has it that the rose rock represents the blood of the braves and the tears of the maidens who made the devastating journey in the 1800’s from Georgia to Oklahoma.

Rose Rock set in Bronze Leaves

It is said that as the blood of the braves and the tears of maidens fell to the earth, they turned into stones in the shape of a Cherokee rose, a flower native to the Cherokees’ eastern home. The rose rock can now be found almost exclusively in Oklahoma, the end of a long journey now known as the Trail of Tears.

Scientifically, the rose rock, or barite rose, is a reddish-brown sandy crystal of barium sulfate. The crystals form into petal-like clusters that resemble a rose. These rosettes occur in individual pieces in Garber sandstone deposited in the Permian period nearly 250 million years ago. They are concentrated in a narrow belt that extends 80 miles through Central Oklahoma from Guthrie on the north to Pauls Valley on the south. The highest concentration of rose rocks in the world is in the Noble area.