THE BIG BANK ROBBERY

First National Bank, Sept. 15,1931
Pages 88-90

During the noon hour, Tuesday, September 15, 1931, two armed men entered the First National Bank forcing the 4 people inside to lie on the floor. They then scooped up over $5300.00 in bills and then locked the cashier, E. Lee Nichols, bookkeeper, Weldon Sellars and a customer, Lawrence Wells in to the vault and escaped with Arthur Littell, vice-president, as hostage.

L-R: Cashier E. Lee Nichols, V-P Arthur Littell, and the bad guy

Early Entertainment In Texhoma 1901-1950
Pages 23-26

Other entertainment was an occasional medicine show in the place where the downtown park now occupies. This was also where several of the tent shows set up. A portable skating rink under a tent with a good hardwood floor came to town several times around 1940. It set up on the lots now occupied by the Texhoma Clinic. Many skated there and sides of the tent could be rolled up so that cars could park on the south and east sides and spectators could watch. At different times over the years, various buildings such as the old Legion building, the old Callaway Processing Plant building and in the basement of the Thomason Brothers building, in town were used for a while as skating rinks. Five pin bowing alleys were at one time located in these buildings also.

Texhoma has had three swimming pools over the years. The first was located where the Jack Kleepers lived, and was an above ground concrete pool originally built for irrigation purposes, but was used for many years for public swimming. In 1924 A.J. Jones bult a pretty good public swimming pool just northeast of Texhoma about three miles.

Jones' Swimming Pool

It was still in operation in the late 1930's. Many people can remember walking out to the pool for a dip in the early days. They had a slide, diving boards, and a continual stream of fresh cold well water running into the pool at all times. The Jones family remembers that this pool was completed and they were ready to fill it when there was a bad storm and lightning hit the pool and cracked it all over. Mr. Jones got some tar, patched the cracks and holes and filled the pool. On opening day people came from miles around to swim and they came out of the water looking like tar babies from the tar which had not dried. Mr. Jones furnished a barrel of kerosene to wash off the tar. The pool was then drained and the tar allowed to dry before refilling. After that was abandoned, the town was without a for many years until the current municipal was built in 1961.