Main Street Downtowns of 10 Small Towns in Oklahoma and Kansas

[@OkieJammer2736]

Love this idea and love ALL of your content. You're always so kind about each town and great with residents too. I downloaded your Google map of locations. Inspirational for fun road trips!

[@ToesToJesus]

I'm having my snowy favorite of tomato soup and grilled cheese AND watching the Wiseguy! Great morning!

[@darrellsaunders4267]

In the 70's, Wichita Pepsi used to bottle Conway Springs water. I used to go down there with a 1700 gallon tanker and fill it up for a buck 85. Then, we bought a 3400 gallon tanker and filled it up for 4.15. Then, we would filter it, etc, and bottle in 5 gallon bottles. It was great water. I left the company in the early 80's and sometime after it was discontinued and they went to Aquafina. I don't know exactly when they started bottling it.....probably way before the 70's.

[@boomstickman71]

where is the spring located?

[@SusanHL]

For old buildings, I think Caldwell, KS gets my top vote. I also liked that old church across from the tracks in Carrier. I really like Pond Creek and Medford too. Great idea for a new type of video!

[@juliogonzales5441]

GREAT TO START THE YEAR THANKS COACH 😊

[@OkieJammer2736]

💙💜💚 I like Pond Creek OK and Caldwell, KS. I know the first one, but will be driving from SW OK. up to Caldwell to check it out. Thamks!

[@curlyfries5095]

Great video to greet me on this cold snowy day! My choice for Number One wax also Caldwell. I loved seeing the Coca Cola ad painted on the side of the building along with the one for the Ripley Drug/Caldwell Pharmacy. Reminds me of old pictures I’ve seen with buildings painted with ads. And the number of old buildings was amazing. I’ll definitely put this town on my list to visit. Safe Travels Coach!

[@JenniferAlexander-yd6kj]

This was a fun video seeing the main streets of those small towns. My favorite was the first one, Ringwood. I liked all the store fronts that were so different from other towns. All the towns are neat though. Love small towns, but love the country the best. I'm just a country girl. 😊

[@bradleymcwilliams6348]

Good idea with this video. I would agree you should mix a few of these in from time to time. Thanks!

[@ronfullerton3162]

A very fun to watch video, and would have to agree on your picks. Was teying to think of towns you could check out for this new venture. It is so hard because so many towns have lost the old buildings to fire or neglect. One town that has much of the old buildings left, but is far away for you would be Columbus Junction, Iowa. Main Street is a blick long with old buildings on both sides, with dome old buildings left on both the north and south ends of the main block of downtown. There is also Highway 92 going past over the top of the south end of downtown on a vioduct. I know of some towns that have revitalized their downtown areas, but they are larger than your population limit. Very neat video. Will be looking for more.

[@colingeorgeh]

Great video. My favorite was Caldwell too. Medford was my second favorite and the rest were pretty anemic. I missed the death-go-round feature and always miss a good slushy review.

[@robertsurtees4380]

I had Petula Clark singing Downtown in my ear through the entire video. #1 has to be Hillsdale. The Christmas tree plunked down in the middle of the intersection is the best holiday decoration ever!

[@tinman7130]

I've meandered thru several of these towns in my travels on the Hawg. Like you I'm always fascinated by the old down towns. Those areas of Oklahoma nd Kansas are great to wander thru. Ringwood still has some false front buildings and those are certainly a nod to an earlier times. I've been thru Caldwell. They have a plethora of nice classics fronting the main street. Running south out of North Platte Nebraska on 83 is the little berg of Wellfleet. It has a nicest old bank building. Fun to ponder what life was like in those small places 100 years ago. Great to video style John. Looking forward to more

[@SuperMickey57]

I agree Caldwell is the most beautiful. I'd have to swing by Clearwater to eat at that old-school sit-down Pizza Hut! All of those old Pizza Hut buildings near me are Mexican or Chinese food restaurants now, and all the Pizza Huts are tiny take-out only in little buildings or in a strip mall space.

[@sarahmoller9716]

This is a different way for viewers to take active part. I didn't look at your picks and went back to watch the video a second time. My choices are (1) Medford, (2) Caldwell, (3) Hillsdail. I chose first two because of the beautiful buildings. Then # 3 was because of the tiny town. So tiny a Christmas tree is in the middle of the road. Adorable and so personal. ❤

[@naturetrails8357]

Plz visit Barber county , towns of medicine lodge & Kiowa , ks , went to hs there. Beautiful gypsum hills. Your videos are great , I watch em after doing morning devotional. God bless you!

[@larryclark4791]

Great video, and you had my town of Clearwater which was on the Chisholm trail. But you can't beat Caldwell

[@robertodebeers2551]

Some of these look like a good place to retire. Meet the local folks, maybe help support a local school sports team or volunteer where needed.

[@ZeRowe]

The town Lahoma, I was on the crew that built the big grain silos at the coop 😎 probably 40 years ago…

[@sittinknittinNlistenin]

Need I say another great video! Great architecture. Always wondering how the towns looked like many years ago. People just living their lives. 🎉🎉

[@jimmacmurdo355]

Great video! More please.

[@farmallpaul4518]

Great video! Thanks!

[@rosiemcnaughton9933]

I too like Caldwell best. Fun to see these places. Thanks!

[@victormedina2269]

Definitely, Caldwell is also my pick!

[@stevesims-d6c]

not surprised Caldwell is the pick. I was impressed with the town in 1971 when we cut wheat there during harvest. It couldn't have been the pretty girls operating the grain elevator scales, though! I'm partial to the other Kansas towns, but Ringwood did a great job of bringing some interesting design features to their downtown.

[@julitopabalan6171]

Gudday to you mr wise and belated merry xmad and happy new year to yur family

[@deborahross9974]

Golly, John, this was an interesting video. I liked it. So many small towns and their main streets. I live in a small town too but it's main street isn't as good as in these towns. It has changed some in the last 34 years I have lived here. The population is 1,050 give or take a few, since 3 new families have moved into the area of town I live in, last year. How I would rank the ones shown is hard, as there were several I liked, but I don't remember their names. One was near Wichita and I agree Caldwell was nice too. Happy trails to you and God bless.

[@cliffordweber274]

If you didn’t stop & eat at the Mexican restaurant in Ringwood you need to make a return trip. It’s right next to Richard’s grocery. Amazing food.

[@mikescully6972]

There’s a lot of small towns in central eastern( around the Spiro/sallisaw area)Oklahoma, nice people and history

[@gaildrumm4082]

Oh my! I've connections with almost all those towns. Col. Andrew Drumm started a bank on the second story of a downtown Caldwell bank after having to give up hos huge ranch in OK. Tons of memories there...

[@jillv4006]

I agree… love the second stories especially on some of those Caldwell buildings. I’d love to know the history of those second stories. ( I suspect they are mostly just used for storage today.) But of names I’ve got to pick Lahoma. (Hey Bob, should we just name the town “Lahoma?” “OK.”)

[@Randomadventuresofmatt]

Great feature idea and great video as always! Could you go a little slower through the Downtowns? Maybe even walking? Maybe visit a local business to hear their stories?

[@keithwiebe1787]

As a Mennonite I had relatives down by Meno (at least I always heard about the town). For something different visit Freedom, Oklahoma and visit the nearby cave. 2 hr drive from Wichita.

[@williammatzek4660]

Carrier Oklahoma has some large grain elevators. I wonder if they are terminal elevators? Wise guy you may know this. A terminal elevator is a storage facility for flour mills and customers. The customers could be over seas.

[@Earthdog777]

I had a great burger in Pond Creek not too long ago!!

[@imanutnur7]

I would enjoy seeing you doing a video of towns in Missouri along Highway 60 from Popular Bluff east to Springfield Mo..

[@rossbryan6102]

WHEN I WAS AN KID WE HAD AN SMALL DAIRY HERD OF REGISTERED HOLSTEIN CATTLE! WE ENDED UP WITH AN YOUNG HOLSTEIN BULL CALF WITH A GOOD BLOOD LINE! AS HE WAS UN NEEDED FOR BREEDING PURPOSES, WE SOLD HIM TO AN DAIRY FARM IN LAHOMA! HE WAS AN LUCKY LITTLE GUY AS ALL THE REST OF OUR BULL CALVES WERE MADE STEERS, AND BECAME BEEF IN OUR FAMILY FREEZER! YOU MIGHT ALSO RESEARCH MIAMI OKLAHOMA AS AN QUICKY MARRIAGE CAPITOL PRIOR TO THE 1970s!! THESE MARRIAGES WERE OF THE QUICKY SORT AS WAS THE LAS VEGAS NEVADA SORT TODAY!!😅😅😅

[@jerrilynhenson9024]

Medford, Oregon was also named after Medford, Massachusetts. And Caldwell, Idaho was also named after Alexander Caldwell. Interesting.

[@metimoteo]

Caldwell is my top choice, too.

[@Jody-kt9ev]

There is a Caldwell, Texas also. It has a growing population of around 4000 people. I suspect that this growth is due to the influence of College Station, Texas. College Station is home to Texas A&M University. Caldwell is in Burleson County, Texas. There is a Caldwell County, Texas. It is home to Lockhart, Texas, the official BBQ capitol of Texas. Lockhart is a neat town with a lot of period buildings and a very neat old courthouse. The movie "The Newton Boys" was filmed there. However, the expansion of the Austin, Texas metro area is kind of spoiling it at present.

[@bobbydale1957]

Ringwood for me.

[@terriquotskuyva4594]

Aww no more Atlas book? But good and enjoyable episode ❤

[@Federalwaywebbs]

Awesome idea for video(s)

[@tubadaddy76]

#1 for me is Clearwater, KS. Sedgwick County has a number of smaller towns. I'm hoping you'll feature another Sedgwick County town of Kechi, KS population 2,425 in 2024.

[@Nickifoster-hl3ux]

I like the video. David koehn's last name was probably pronounced kayn with a long a. Taloga oklahoma might interest you for one of these videos.

[@RonaldDailey-z8b]

Bedford has my vote. Are you not interested in old houses? Almost all these small towns have interesting architecture

[@artgirten7818]

John, your videos are always well researched and the time you spend exploring benefits all viewers. Personally the new format feels rushed. I wanted to know more about each town.... As your viewers appreciate, there is so much more to a small town than just the downtown. Thanks for all your efforts!

[@elizabethmarshall3251]

I love the detail the Wiseguy does in many of his videos, but I rather enjoyed this one too! I think he knows there is more than just the downtown, but this feels more like a fun Sunday drive through a bunch of small towns!

[@railimages1]

Great series, however one correction to note: Meno, Ok is pronounced m-EN-oh long e like saying Me no

[@pamlaenger6870]

I moved to my small town in 2017. Less than 5,000 people at that time. It has since grown. I don’t like it. 😢 It’s in Texas and we’ve got a lot of them other people moving in. Time to head to the sticks! 😂

[@RonaldDailey-z8b]

I meant Medford

[@nadie2795]