LOCAL COLUMN: Landmarks remind us when we’re really home

Jul 13, 2023

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Fifty thousand years ago and a few miles east of here a huge iron-nickel meteorite struck the unbroken earthen plain at a speed of about 26,000 miles per hour.

The resulting impact had the force of 20 million tons of dynamite and blew a hole in the earth 700 feet deep and 4,000 feet across.

Native Americans knew about it. It was a way that nomadic tribes realized they were back home. The first written report of the crater didn’t come until 1871 when one of General Custer’s scouts took note of it.

Franklin’s Hole was thought to be just another extinct volcano

Years later, the crater was determined to be the result of a meteorite’s impacting the earth. After watching the recent movie, “Asteroid City,” we detoured off the highway to this local landmark. It wasn’t until 1968 that “Meteor Crater” was designated a Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

• • •

It got me to thinking about some other not so natural landmarks in Norman. Mount Williams, the earthen mound next to the interstate, was hastily built in the spring of 1942 when the U.S. Navy modified the runways at Max Westheimer Field to accommodate the new training base.

It was named, likely in jest, for an early base commander. Pilots used the hill in navigating back to the base.

The portion of the interstate that passed through Norman wasn’t completed until 1959 so the mountain stood there with not much notice for nearly 20 years. Once the highway was finished, the hill took on special meaning.

Fraternities and sororities routinely chalked the hill with their Greek letters. It was a rite of passage for local teenagers to climb the hill. Younger kids liked to dig out slugs since the hill was also a firing range backstop.

For many families, seeing the hill after returning from a vacation was the landmark kids needed to see to know they were almost home.

The hill came down in 2006 as part of the University North Park project. Officials promised to build some sort of memorial but the only reminder now is a short street near Target.

• • •

Another not-so-natural landmark that has been preserved in our community is the Sooner Theatre. Built in 1929, the grand old lady of downtown nearly came down after the owners stopped showing movies there in 1975.

They boarded it up after we watched the last movie, “Attack of the Amazons.” Not quite as appealing as the first movie, “Alias Jimmy Valentine,” shown in 1929. The theater was a showplace of the Southwest, one of the first to screen “talkies.” It had air conditioning and a cry room.

It was destined to become another parking lot before a dedicated group of volunteers convinced the city to acquire the property and turn it over to a community theater program.

My California grandsons were part of the theater’s summer camp program this year. Every time I dropped them off I thought of my 9-year-old self waiting in a line that stretched more than a block east on Main Street to see a packed Saturday afternoon matinee. Now if I could just find those sheets of nickel taffy ...

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.