[Forrest Wright]

I lived in Lawton for a few years in the 80's when I was a kid; I lived in the mobile home park right next to Doe Doe park. All of the parks rides & attractions had closed by then, with the exception of the huge swimming pool. But it was so much fun to walk through the park & eat a sundae obtained from the nearby Mcdonald's; the pool was pretty fun, too. Anyone else out there have any memories from Doe Doe they would like to share?

[educator1953]

Originally Posted by Forrest Wright

I lived in Lawton for a few years in the 80's when I was a kid; I lived in the mobile home park right next to Doe Doe park. All of the parks rides & attractions had closed by then, with the exception of the huge swimming pool. But it was so much fun to walk through the park & eat a sundae obtained from the nearby Mcdonald's; the pool was pretty fun, too. Anyone else out there have any memories from Doe Doe they would like to share?

Boy, does that bring back memories! Plato School here in Duncan used to be a grade 1-8 school back many years ago. I went to school at Plato from 4th through 8th grade. We had our seventh grade class end-of-school trip at Doe Doe Park. I remember swimming there all day on that trip. You're right about it being lots of fun!!

[Old Wolverine]

We lived in Plaza trailer park in the 60's and 70's. The rides were open in the 60's, there was a train, merri-go-round, monkey house, peacocks, and other animals. We skated in the rink on a regular basis and swam a lot in the huge pool. I think they advertised the pool as holding one million gallons of water, but can't remember the exact amount, only that it was a lot! The price to swim for Plaza residents was .25 cents in the 60's, it went to $2.00 in the 70's I think because the city told them they had to let anyone who wanted in swim and that was a financial hardship on so called undesireables. Kept us out most of the time too! My aunt and uncle had lived there for over 20 years when they and all the other tenants were told that the property had sold to build the "ulitmate retirement center". They were given 9 months to move their now not real mobile home out. The property owners were going to put a dome over the pool and had other big dreams that fizzled out. I noticed that they are opening the trailer park back up, of course the old Doe Doe park and pool are long gone, it is so sad since it was an icon for Lawton.

[eddie gein]

There is a deal on OETA about Oklahoma amusement and recreational parks that emphasizes the defunct one. There is some footage of Doe Doe park in the documentary. They also talk about the segregation of the swimming pool as being a huge piece of the civil rights movement in Lawton. Apparently Doe Doe didn't allow african americans to swim there clear into the early 70's.

[mkfarnam]

The name "Doe Doe Park" sounds like it would be affiliated with some Mental Health facility.........I live in Duncan

[Old Wolverine]

As far as I know they never banned minorities, but made it so expensive that they couldn't afford to swim, neither could we for the most part!

[dishnok]

My husband and I both grew up in Lawton and both swam in Doe Doe park. It was a great place built from the round rocks found in Medicine Park and had a large pool, skating arena, kiddie rides, and some animal exhibits. As a child, I loved to sit and watch the monkeys there. I remember stories from my mother about how she met my father at the skate arena there. The pool was segregated. When the city forced the owners to allow minorities into the pool, the pool closed. It was closed for many years, but reopened for a few years and did allow everyone in. Eventually, it closed and now there are several average looking apartment buildings there.

[Jeffreyrt]

Oh yes Doe Doe Park was the place to be in the sixties. My father also was stationed in Ft.Sill and as kids we loved to go there. Some of my best childhood was spent in that pool. I was stationed at Ft Sill myself in 1974/75 my daughter was born there. We would take her to the park and have lunch and jut have a great time. Now my daughter is grown and her husband is in the Army they have just been stationed at Ft.Sill. I have kidded her about going back to where she started from. I went to see them this past Monday and spent a couple of days with her got to see lots of things from my past. But it hurts me that my only grandson of two years old will not have the same great times that we did. I feel for the kids of today they have computers, video games and such.. But they will never have what we had. GREAT SUMMERS ............LOTS OF SUNSHINE........... MILES OF SMILES.......BUT MOST OF ALL MEMORIES THAT WILL NEVER FADE NO MATTER HOW OLD WE GET ............SO IF I SWAM WITH YOU AT THE POOL OR PLAYED WITH YOU IN THE PARK , I MAY NOT REMEMBER YOUR NAME OR YOUR FACE ............ BUT I WILL ALL WAYS REMEMBER THE FUN WE HAD... GOD BLESS YOU

[Reverend_Jones]

Doe Doe Park's owners were still refusing to admit black patrons to the pool, the amusement park, or the skating rink in the late 60's. The park desegregated after the post commander at Fort Sill stated that Doe Doe Park would be off-limits to the military unless they desegregated. That's when the owner finally allowed black patrons in. However, and this is a big however, he raised prices on everything so most kids, black, white, or whatever, couldn't afford to swim or ride the rides. By the early 70's the amusement park had been closed up and by the late 70's there was no more skating rink.

Kind of sad that the owner couldn't overcome his prejudiced ways and let the park fall apart rather than let people with darker skin in. He always struck me as a bitter, angry person in the few times I encountered him as a kid and teenager.

I tell kids in this town they really have the army to thank for forcing the town toward progress on race and other issues. This is, after all, a place where the KKK marched through town whenever they felt like it for quite a few years.

[dbourbon]

My first job was at the pool. It held 880,000 gallons of pure artisian well water.

It was built by Ben Hutchins. He had owned much of Medicine Park and sold it while prices were high. He then built Doe Doe. The name came from a child. I can't recall who but the child was trying to say the name of his aunt and it came out Doe Doe. The name stuck and Ben put it on the park.

His sons were Bill and Buck. I think Buck' real name was Ben Jr. Bill and his wife Doris were two of best people in the world. Bill taught me how to work and always do the job right. They both kind of adopted me the summer I worked there.

Ben was definately old school. As Buck used to brag about him, "My dad is rough as a cob and tough as nails". He was right. Ben did finally open the park to all. I think he just wanted to prove that he could do what he wanted to do with his own property. When I worked there Ben would not allow anyone with dark skin on the property.

The pool was a beautiful thing.