Driving through the South Side of OKC yesterday, I had to cross "Lightning Creek: numerous times....this Creek holds something special in Most South Side kids of the 50's through 80's, I remember thinking it was so cool to "Dive" into the creek when the banks were Swollen with fresh rain water. Then I didn't think it so cool when my mother almost beat me to death when she found out that I did it...
When in our younger days, we chased the bandits and the Indians even went on a few Wild animal Safaris. This memory Made me go back to the "Old Neighborhood" and get out and look at where a lot of my youth was left. However, the sides are now concrete and some of them are cemented over and Grafiti in places it shouldn't be. HOW THE REST OF YOU???? I'M SURE YOU HAVE SOME SPECIAL STORIES BURIED IN THE COBWEBS OF YOUR MINDS....CARE TO SHARE?????

Driving through the South Side of OKC yesterday, I had to cross "Lightning Creek: numerous times....this Creek holds something special in Most South Side kids of the 50's through 80's, I remember thinking it was so cool to "Dive" into the creek when the banks were Swollen with fresh rain water. Then I didn't think it so cool when my mother almost beat me to death when she found out that I did it...
When in our younger days, we chased the bandits and the Indians even went on a few Wild animal Safaris. This memory Made me go back to the "Old Neighborhood" and get out and look at where a lot of my youth was left. However, the sides are now concrete and some of them are cemented over and Grafiti in places it shouldn't be. HOW THE REST OF YOU???? I'M SURE YOU HAVE SOME SPECIAL STORIES BURIED IN THE COBWEBS OF YOUR MINDS....CARE TO SHARE?????

I have always thought it's name added to it's mystique, wouldn't you agree. Smith Creek would just not have been the same.

We used to ride our bicycles in several areas of the creek when it was dry. It was another "Bicycle Hills" spot.

I remember riding our bicycles from 44th and Drexel to 29th and Penn through all the crooks and the Crannies....Sometimes you had to climb out because of debris or some older, bigger and meaner guy that lived in the particular neighborhood....He would claim "this is my creek"...O.K......we'd be gone until we got out of sight and then back in the creek. Shot many a Fanner 50 cap in that old creek. I never realized that there were so many bad cowboys and Indians that lived in that creek........then.......I discovered the Innertube gun:....(rubber gun) and the battles really began.....Bobby Tyler (now deceased) and his brother made a rifle with about ten shots.....Man that would hurt if you came around the bend with your single shot and they would open up on you.....
Can you count the numbers of "crawdads" you caught in Lightning Creek???
Another story to come.....

I was a friend of Mike Davis who lived on the east side of the creek on 28th. That part of the creek and up into the park was almost always pretty deep. We would swim in the creek. Build fires on the bank, dirt and pretty steep. Snakes and turtles along with other critters abound in the creek. I don't really remember getting in trouble for messing around and in the creek. After one day of swimming and such I returned home to cleanup. Saw a little black critter crawling on my leg. Asked Dad what it was and his response was "hookworm!" That was the end of my Lighting Creek days by MY choice.

interesting stories guys. out of curiousity, where is lightning creek?

interesting stories guys. out of curiousity, where is lightning creek?

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That's a GOOD QUESTION. The Creek runs all over the South Side of OKC...To get a real good look go to S.W. 29th and Pennsylvania. The go East to about 3 blocks past Robinson and you will see the "Holding" area on the south. Now, there is a tremendously deep "Lightning Creek" off of 59th and South Walker...
Actually, this creek is everywhere on the South Side of town. My personal hangout area (on the Creek) was off Drexel and S.W. 44th st. We would work that area over. I mean there were fights and games played, Hide and Go seek (On the Creek)...that would mean you would have about 10-12 blocks to hide in...Got kinda hairy sometimes....I too remember campfires and Ghost Stories about kids that disappeared from the creek.....I do have a real fond memory of about 1958 there was a pretty good Snow Storm....They didn't let school out for that but, on Saturday, we all went to the creek.....No one had a sled but my mother had an old Rocking chair......With Great wisdom, I decided we could ride that chair down into the creek.....We drug the thing four about 6 blocks, I got in (My chair you know) and thought well, I need something to hang on to.....one of the other guys lived right there and he went in and got a rope and tied me into the rocking chair....1-2-3-.....Everyone pushed the chair and away I went....until I got to the bottom and being tied into the chair I couldn't get away...and physics class began, I leaned forward, the chair went forward and I went down on my face.......Hard one to explain to my mother......Told her my sister pushed me down in the creek.....didn't lie, she helped.....Some many stories will come out of the creek............Kissed my first girl in the creek...............(2nd grade)...Sheesh. More to tell later on....Prunepicker and Carltonskeeper will have some good ones.....

I never cruised Lightning Creek. But I remember how it would be the site of
some dramatic flooding.

Does anyone know how many people really drowned in Lightning Creek?

thanks generals. next time im in the area i'll have a look. did you guys ever do any fishing there? was there any fish in it?

thanks generals. next time im in the area i'll have a look. did you guys ever do any fishing there? was there any fish in it?

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Of course there were fish in "The Creek"....man, that was "Lightning" Creek...rumor was that there were some 50 pound cats in it....I caught a 12 lb. yellow cat in there one time myself......My Mom made me let it go since my sister was allergic to cats....Lots of Crawdads..."Blood Pincher" deluxe.....they said there was an old one down there that could pinch your finger off...had to be careful you know....That creek would flood every year and yes to your answer, there were fish in some of the "Swirl" Holes....Those were fun to swim when the water was going strong......My Mother if she were alive today would beat me now if she knew I was swimming in those holes....

hmmm... i thought that the creek around sw 29th & penn was called 'brock creek' and that 'lightning creek' was further east.

-M

hmmm... i thought that the creek around sw 29th & penn was called 'brock creek' and that 'lightning creek' was further east.

-M
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You're still alive????? during the early and late 50's every creek that went through the south sided got tagged Lightning Creek.....If you follow the creek you're calling Brock Creek it winds down to 44th and on to 51st street. but, it veers off around 37th...38th somewhere in there and goes off towards Villa and winds back around and down to Willow Creek Golf and Country club...During the Hey day of the "Bad" flooding (before the city took control) everything would be reported as Lightning Creek. I was raised off 47th and Independence and the creek along in there actually was split off at the river to go through the park on 29th and May and then veered down to 51st and Independence.....Meet me some day and I'll show you where it started and ended......But to answer your question .... almost EVERY creek on the Southside was stuck with the name of Lightning creek.....Yes, there was a Brock Park on 29th and Penn....Not there any longer....

Of course there were fish in "The Creek"... I caught a 12 lb. yellow cat in
there one time myself... My Mom made me let it go since my sister was
allergic to cats... Lots of Crawdads... "Blood Pincher" deluxe...

Was it a Tabby?

Crawdad fishin' was a southside staple. We even ate'm, tails that is. I was
always surprised that the "blood pincher" never made the headlines.

Yes it was:...............You know, My kids will never know about eating Crawdad tails.......I remember one time we had caught a bunch of Crawdads and we were cleaning them and two cats (gonna get in trouble on this story) came up and were eating the cleanings......we got to arguing over which was the fastest of the two and we decided to have a "High life Race".....If you don't know what that is, don't ask. Anyway after they were fueled up we never saw them again.....My dad thought it was hilarious my Mom was furious with us....I thought it was funny.....But, we had three or four families over for Crawdad Tails and the fixins'.............They were good....

hmmm... i thought that the creek around sw 29th & penn was called 'brock creek' and that 'lightning creek' was further east.

-M

You are correct! Lightning Creek begins west of western around Straka Terrace Blvd and runs pretty much a n.e. course to the Oklahoma River. Dang I hate that name.

I never cruised Lightning Creek. But I remember how it would be the site of
some dramatic flooding.

Does anyone know how many people really drowned in Lightning Creek?

Yeah we lived over off agnew back during that big flood we had a few years back it was horrible!

Speaking of Agnew and the flood, I asked a person (who lived on Agnew ALL of their life) what they called the creek just east of them (around Villa)...their response was "Lightning Creek".....It's all a name it doesn't matter it's complete location. And, Geographically speaking the only difference between a Creek and A River is the person that named it....Sheesh....When I was 6 years old we moved to OKC on 47th east of S. Independence....(1952)...The creek in that area was called "Lightning Creek"..... that's what the big guys said the name was..... So, it doesn't really matter....We had a lot of fun down in the whatever you call it creek...didn't you????

enjoyed the stories guys.
every boy needs a creek, river, pond or lake to grow up near.
i lived in yukon untill i was about 12 and then moved overseas.
the westridge area. there was a creek that flowed through there, and me and my buddies were always messin around down there. fishing for the catfish and snapping turtles, damming it up with big rocks, killing snakes. good times.

enjoyed the stories guys.
every boy needs a creek, river, pond or lake to grow up near.
i lived in yukon untill i was about 12 and then moved overseas.
the westridge area. there was a creek that flowed through there, and me and my buddies were always messin around down there. fishing for the catfish and snapping turtles, damming it up with big rocks, killing snakes. good times.

Killing snakes! We would catch them and get in trouble for bringing them home. The woman next door saw us with a few and called the police. They just made sure that the snakes were not poisonous.

Speaking of Agnew and the flood, I asked a person (who lived on Agnew ALL of their life) what they called the creek just east of them (around Villa)...their response was "Lightning Creek".....It's all a name it doesn't matter it's complete location. And, Geographically speaking the only difference between a Creek and A River is the person that named it....Sheesh....When I was 6 years old we moved to OKC on 47th east of S. Independence....(1952)...The creek in that area was called "Lightning Creek"..... that's what the big guys said the name was..... So, it doesn't really matter....We had a lot of fun down in the whatever you call it creek...didn't you????

"doesn't really matter"............

Then Western Heights is on S. Penn between 44th and 59th?

"doesn't really matter"............

Then Western Heights is on S. Penn between 44th and 59th?

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Did they move?????

what they called the creek just east of them (around Villa)...their response was "Lightning Creek".....It's all a name it doesn't matter it's complete location. And, Geographically speaking the only difference between a Creek and A River is the person that named it....Sheesh....When I was 6 years old we moved to OKC on 47th east of S. Independence....(1952)...The creek in that area was called "Lightning Creek"..... that's what the big guys said the name was..... So, it doesn't really matter....We had a lot of fun down in the whatever you call it creek...didn't you????[/QUOTE]

My point concerning Grant and Western Heights is that a "name" does matter. Are the North Canadian, South Canadian, and the Red River names interchangeable?

Did they move?
It was last week. Didn't you hear? The S.W. 44th & S. Council Road location
was too far from the city.
I thought everyone knew about it.

Well, whatever the name of the creek is....it's rolling tonight.....

I cannot remember the name of the park Lightning Creek runs through.

The one they have done all the work on just east of robinson and 29th?

google maps says, oliver park. -M

google maps says, oliver park. -M

Don't know why I could not think of it....

We used to find a few stolen bikes down there once an a while

Whoops, Lightning Creek strikes again....With all the engineering OKC has put into the Lightning Creek area (I say that in praise) the old creek let us know again that it will do what it wants to do....I was watching the news and saw these people wanting to walk in the creek ( use to do that myself though) what do we not understand that Lightning Creek has been there longer than any of us....except PapaOU and Prunepicker.....you guys be careful......

Whoops, Lightning Creek strikes again... With all the engineering
OKC has put into the Lightning Creek area (I say that in praise)
the old creek let us know again that it will do what it wants to
do... I was watching the news and saw these people wanting
to walk in the creek (uses to do that myself though) what do
we not understand that Lightning Creek has been there longer
than any of us... except PapaOU and Prunepicker... you guys
be careful...
I never visited Lightning Creek but heard the stories. Too bad
about that youngster. It only takes a slip and that rushing
water will over power you.

There were people out there today with their swim suits on and the police and Fire Department warning them against going in the water....Duh??? I know as a kid many years ago we jumped in the creek when it was up to the banks...(talk about stupid then)But, the Police were standing there with the news cameras rolling.....

There were a few of us who swam in the creek between 29th and 28th. But in nothing compared to the conditions of the 2 floods this year. Only real danger is to come face to face with a snake swimming the opposite way. But it generally gave way if you were still in the water after seeing it. Never came into contact with leeches. Water probably had so many chemicals dumped into to it the parasites were unable to survive.

you don't want to encourage stupidity but I can remember crawdad fishing in Lightning creek and swimming the creek when it got going....Never would I think about getting in when it looked as bad as yesterday...I hope people are smart enough to remember the Glass in the bottom of the creek and the swiftness of the current that can drag you under. Even the best swimmer can be drug under.....Oh yeah and those snakes are there.....Never thought about the leeches.....

Today (Sunday July 11th) I went by where the creek got out and flooded....My gosh that must have been worse than shown on television.......

It was very bad both days. I went down to S.E.17th to get a good look after it had already flooded 29th and 25th was near. From S.E. 17th the creek is deeper and at its widest point.

It was very bad both days. I went down to S.E.17th to get
a good look after it had already flooded 29th and 25th was
near. From S.E. 17th the creek is deeper and at its widest
point.
That's a dangerous stretch of water. My rule is if it's above
my knees then it's too deep. Y'all know that I'm an avid
fly fisher.

Think I've posted this before but back when the creek was a real "creek" with vegetation, fish, frogs,snakes,etc I grew up on SW 33rd about a block from the creek.
I hung out at Oliver Park, they had a little amplitheater and activities during the summer.
Even had one of those shallow concrete swimming pools which of course after a heavy rain would be full of red/brown water since the creek overflowed. Worst flood I remember, probably in the late 50's/early 60's the creek came about halfway up 33rd between Santa Fe and Oklahoma streets. Those folks that live about 40th and Santa Fe I think have lived there since then. I would have moved long ago but it's their home I guess. Great place to grow up. Lots of "creek" stories.

In the early 1950's, we used to come up to the city to visit folks that lived at 231 SW 46th Street. I don't know why I remember that address, but I am curious as to what creek would have been close to that address. There was also a farm (dairy) near by called "Capes" and the real name was considered rude, so they used the name Capes.

In the early 1950's, we used to come up to the city to visit folks that lived at 231 SW 46th Street. I don't know why I remember that address, but I am curious as to what creek would have been close to that address. There was also a farm (dairy) near by called "Capes" and the real name was considered rude, so they used the name Capes. That would be Lightning Creek. Don't know about the dairy.

In the early 1950's, we used to come up to the city to visit folks that lived at 231 SW 46th Street. I don't know why I remember that address, but I am curious as to what creek would have been close to that address. There was also a farm (dairy) near by called "Capes" and the real name was considered rude, so they used the name Capes.

I think I know the farm. Was on corner of Sante Fe and 46th or 47th. Probably was anywhere from 5-20 acres. Just east would have been the Safeway on Shields. Can't remember the farmers name,we knew them though, don't remember it being rude but unusual. I can find out the name though.