The Neighborhood: Memories of a Ponca City Boyhood

The Neighborhood
Memories of a Ponca City Boyhood

At the turn of the twentieth century and in the four decades later, the Oklahoma town of Ponca City bustled with energy as Native Americans and the pioneers who made the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893 saw the influx of another era where oil would be the driving force for a young state.

Amidst this background, a neighborhood full of children enjoyed a “Never-Never Land” as they explored the world around them.  The joy they shared as they fished, played games and explored their surroundings during the Depression, Dust Bowl, and days preceding World War II remains with them to this day.

Robert Clark Jr. was one of those privileged children, his father being an executive for Marland Refining Company.  He was one of a handful of boys who freely roamed the 300 acre estate of E.W. Marland - a principal player in the oil industry.

Mr. Clark has woven his memories into pleasurable tales peopled with a cast of local characters.  These stories will bring back many memories to those who lived in this era, and those who grew up hearing about the times.  It is an oft times humorous tale, as well as a poignant stroll through a community and region that might have been enjoyed in your own backyard.  The Neighborood will appeal to history buffs, the general populace and to all those who just enjoy a good read.

It is the heyday of the oil boom, Depression, and Dust Bowl days of the Twenties and Thirties.  The voices matured, as did some of their owners’ forms of entertainment, but tucked deep down in the very soul of the boys who lived in the Acre Homes addition, an upscale area of the oil refining town, there forever remains a youthful joy of friends remembered before the events of World War II changed their lives forever.

About the Author
Robert E. “Bob Clark, a native of Ponca City, Oklahoma, was born in 1925, the son of Robert E. and Ruth McDowell Clark.  Ruth McDowell’s family moved to Ponca City in 1905, a few years after the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893.  Friends of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Marland and their two adopted children, Lyde and George, the Clarks and their sons resided in the newly created Acre Homes addition developed by Marland in the 1920s.  Despite the Depression, Bob Clark enjoyed a happy boyhood there, graduating from Ponca City High School in 1943.  He participated in World War II as a member of the United States Army Air Corps and later graduated from Oklahoma A&M College.  He has worked for The Daily Oklahoman and the Oklahoma Times in sports and advertising, and enjoyed a 30 year career in oil exploration for Continental Oil Company.  He concluded his career working as an independent in the oil business.