I was reminiscing about Doe Doe Park pool. I heard it closed down.

Does anyone have some old pics of the pool in it's heyday? I want to show my wife how it was laid out.
I spent several happy summers there, and as a kid, there could be no better pool!

There are some pictures on the net.

Pictures of Doe Doe Park, Lawton, Oklahoma, Lawton, OK (http://www.usacitiesonline.com/oklawtonpark.htm)

Seen those, no good ones of the pool. Those are what I am looking for.
Appreciate the pointer though.

Doe Doe Park? Sounds very interesting. I am a magazine publisher launching a new magazine in Lawton soon. Since you are reminiscing, I think this would make a good My Lawton of Yesterday story or Doe Doe Park...my story. Would be kind enough to allow me interview you? Or if you want to write it and we can help edit it is also welcome. Please let me know.
Sorry if this seem out of place, I do apologize
Editor
My Hometown Lawton Magazine - Coming Soon!

I, too, have fond memories of Doe Doe ... I lived in Lawton from the 5th grade through high school (LHS 1961) and it was certianly the place to be as a kid (until one had access to "wheels", of course, and then it would be "the Mountains!"

I think I've seen some pics in the past ... I'll look around and see what I can find. Remember "the rings" ... ha ha ... I was to short to hardly ever catch one, much less make it across the pool! But, I tried ...

I learned to swim in this pool ... I learned to roller skate in its skating rink! Great girl watching, too! We used to use a mix of baby oil and iodine for tanning, for gawd's sake! :) It was a great place in its day, that's for sure!

Doug,
I assume you are a historian as I can see from your blog. Do you have any good stories for Moore, OK or SW OKC?

Doug,
I assume you are a historian as I can see from your blog. Do you have any good stories for Moore, OK or SW OKC?
I'm just an amateur, following my nose where it leads me and learing as I go! I have little present knowledge about Moore or SW Okc ... I tend to focus downtown or near downtown in my research. I have intentions to develop a post on historic Capitol Hill, though, sooner or later!

I'm sorry, but Doe Doe Park? That's seriously the name? Seriously?

Yep!

I'm sorry, but Doe Doe Park? That's seriously the name? Seriously?
Like OKCMann said, "Yep!"

From AMUSEMENT PARKS (http://www.okhistory.org/enc/amuseparks.htm) :


In Lawton, Doe Doe Park hosted the city's leisure-time activities for five decades. Opened in August 1945, Doe Doe offered a large swimming pool, a wooden skating rink, rides, a zoo, and concessions. Through the years it closed down facet by facet, until operations ceased in 1985.
Nice green grassy area near the pool where you could sunbathe. slop yourself down with a mix of iodine and baby oil, and ogle the babes while you listened to Jerry Lee Lewis, the Coasters, Fats Domino, the Diamonds, et al, blaring out loudly over the PA system!

Good times were had there, my man! It was quite a large pool ... a wood bridge crossed the pool's width and separated the shallow (5' and less) end from the deep (up to 10'), and it had a "tower" in the deep end you could swim to and dive off of ... as well as the usual complement of diving boards at the end ... once and a while I had guts enough to "jump" off the high dive, but never "dive"! Not from there! :dizzy:

Just next to the bridge, in the 5' water, it had a cable crossing the pool's width with attached "rings" hanging from the cable by chains (as I recall). To reach the 1st ring, you'd have to leap up and away from the walkway toward the 1st ring ... no small feat for a short guy like me ... if you didn't catch it, you go "splat" in the water" ... if you managed to catch it, you'd swing back and forth until you were in position to grab the next ring, and so on, across the width of the pool. As I said before, I never came close to getting across, though many who were more manly than I did!

More often than not, we'd walk to the pool which was on Sheridan Road, equivalent of 21st street ... I lived much further east near downtown during parts of that time ... so it was about mile and a half walk to get there, and, unfortunately, the same distance back home.

In addition to the skating rink next to the pool, there were other parts of the park, too ... train ride, picnic areas ... it was a pretty big deal for Lawton ... well, actually, would be for most anywhere.

Dark Jedi, I've looked but so far no finds other than what you have. I'm not done looking yet, though. Maybe the old high school annuals would have a pic or two? I'll ask my ex-wife (we graduated from LHS in the same year ... GO WOLVERINES!).

I think its time to rename your infamous park.

Great, I appreciate the responses.
Feel free to interview me if you wish, but I was young then and remember little other than how awesome the pool was.

Thank you
I will keep you posted. Maybe hypnotize you to remember everything.
Just kidding

Thank you
I will keep you posted. Maybe hypnotize you to remember everything.
Just kidding

Hehe, not an issue. Hypnotists hate me, I am one of the immune.

I was 7 years old when we moved to Lawton from Michigan in 1984, and I think that's the year it actually closed. May be an urban legend, but I'd always heard that the owner shut it down because he didn't approve of black and white kids swimming in the same water together, and he wasn't permitted to discriminate by denying people of different races admittance to the park. We used to sneak in under the fence through the drainage ditches back in like, 88 and play in there, though. Good times.

Some of the stuff from Doe Doe park is stored in a fenced in building over near 2nd Street. The metal framed Doe Doe Park sign is in the front yard and it looks like the gazebo that used to be on top (from the pictures on this post) is there also. There's a lot of old Lawton stuff stored over there. I'm stationed here at Ft. Sill. Next time I'm over there, I'll take some pictures.

Who did the MyMidwest City magazine? I got a bone to pick with you.

Doe Doe Park, what memories i've had there. that swimming pool was huge or seem that way to the little kid in me, when growing up in Lawton. i could never get across that pool on the rings. what has taken it's place?

There's a little park with a some swings and stuff. Right across the street there's a RV/trailer park.

Who did the MyMidwest City magazine? I got a bone to pick with you.
What's the link, mmonroe? I'd like to have a look.

May be an urban legend, but I'd always heard that the owner shut it down because he didn't approve of black and white kids swimming in the same water together, and he wasn't permitted to discriminate by denying people of different races admittance to the park.

That's the rumor I heard as well.

I didn't grow up in Lawton, but do have family living near the area. When visiting my cousins, my brother and I would hit the Doe Doe Park pool at least a couple of times. Too bad the place shut down.

The facility sat dormant from the late 1980s up until just a few years ago when it was finally demolished. Many thought Lowes was going to build a big hardware store on the site. And then Home Depot. Both companies eventually built locations on Cache Road.

Now the site is getting covered up with other buildings. A Burger King and auto parts supply store were built along Sheridan. A large apartment complex has gone up behind those stores.

Late to the party here......... yes, the owner refused to allow African Americans into his establishment. There were two or three "protest marches" formed against him, of between 200-300 black folks each time. I remember my brother and I, maybe 9 or 10 at the time, crawling up onto the roof of our house to watch the marches. We lived maybe 2 blocks west of it. This was in maybe 1965 or 1966.

But yes, it was a wonderful place to swim! A HUGE pool with towers, diving boards, rings, and a lot more. The skating rink was really cool too! And the baboons with the red butts were always good for a laugh with the boys anyway! :D

snerd

Doe Doe Park. A symbol of segregation. Long gone now. An apartment complex now sits on the site.

I was told that Wedgewood park in OKC closed over the segregation thing.

Also late to the party: My wife, who grew up in Lawton, and some other relatives have told me that story as well. The owner closed it down rather than allow African-Americans to patronize the place.
(These stories were passed on to me as we dined in the friendly confines of Anna's Restaurant, which is apparently across the road from where Doe Doe used to be.)

Strangely enough, after the park closed, they converted the monkey house into an apartment, and my mother lived there part of the time she was in college.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg28/scaled.php?server=28&filename=img0197xoi.jpg&res=landing

Man do I remember Doe Doe Park in Lawton, Oklahoma! It has the biggest swimming pool, huge skating rink and they even had animals such as monkeys and horses and peacocks! I remember my brother and sister taking me there to go swimming. It was so awesome. Just remembering the times I recall 60's music being played over the speakers. I remember many folks trying to cross the pool on the rings that went all the way across. They had a great staff and there was plenty of snacks and burgers etc. The summers were hot and what a fantastic way to cool off! As I got older I remember going to the skating rink with a friend of my mothers daughter. She liked me and I was playing pinball up in the skating rink where she sneaked a kiss on my neck! I remember a diner across the street where my mother would take me for lunch. Doe Doe Park was one of the best memories in my childhood. God bless all who read this and God's blessings!

2529

2530

2531

Can you give the location of this photo?