Here Today - by Jeffrey B Schmidt (Paperback)

About the Book

"Part travelogue, part field guide, part history, this book documents the rise and fall of one hundred Oklahoma towns, from the arrival of pioneers and settlers to the rise of buildings and businesses to the decline that came with natural disasters, manmade crises, and cultural change. The towns are described using maps, GPS coordinates, and almost two hundred historic and contemporary photos"--

Book Synopsis

The history of Oklahoma runs through the thousands of towns that sprang up in the wake of statehood and even before then--readable in the traces of bygone days, if you know what to look for. In Here Today, Jeffrey B. Schmidt conducts readers, armchair travelers and adventurers alike, through places that tell Oklahoma's story: towns all but disappeared, waning, or persisting despite the odds. Part travelogue, part field guide, part history, the book--replete with photos, maps, and GPS coordinates--documents the rise and fall of one hundred of these towns, from the arrival of pioneers and settlers to the rise of buildings and businesses to the decline that came with natural disasters, manmade crises, and cultural change.

Schmidt provides an enlightening look at what has made these towns work--the role of roads and railways, public schools and churches, community building and commerce, and, perhaps most significant, the official recognition that a post office conferred. He notes the oil strikes, coal mines, intriguing crimes, violent weather, and twists of fortune that played into the fate of each; points out the landmarks that still stand and the shadows of those that have succumbed to indifference, destruction, or the passage of time; and puts the story these towns tell into the larger context of westward expansion, Native American history, and, in the case of the many all-Black towns, discrimination and segregation.

Whether visiting ghost towns or small towns that still draw on the power of rural resilience to survive and even thrive, Here Today offers a rare chance to travel through the state's history before its remnants may be gone tomorrow. Representing the extraordinary extent of Schmidt's research, legwork, and mining of archives and data sources, the book preserves for all time a vanishing vision of Oklahoma.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating chronicle of Oklahoma history, told through a series of time capsules filled with gems. As a bonus, it will inspire a road trip or two in the Sooner State."--Jim Hinckley, author of Travel Route 66: A Guide to the History, Sights, and Destinations along the Main Street of America

"Before statehood, Oklahoma represented the Promised Land--an untested place with unlimited potential. True believers arrived in droves. With them, scores of small towns sprang up, disappeared, and, in some cases, persisted despite the odds. This book takes a robust look at those journeys and destinations."--Hannibal B. Johnson, author of Acres of Aspiration: The All-Black Towns in Oklahoma


"I grew up listening to family tales that involved small towns and spent my life relishing the experience of visiting many of these fascinating places, many of them long since abandoned. Schmidt's book is one of the most convenient to use in the field that I have tried. He carefully selected heritage tourism destinations for both interest and accessibility, and every one of them is worth visiting."--T. Lindsay Baker, author of Eating Up Route 66: Foodways on America's Mother Road