The Castle and The Bar-C Dude Ranch
category : Historic Homes
The Castle and the Bar-C were built by Dr. Ellsworth Collings, Dean of Education at the University of Oklahoma. It was never a permanent home of the Collings, but on special occasions, friends were entertained at the Castle in the Arbuckles.Very little is known about the Castle ... The whys and wherefores are left unanswered. On one thing we can agree. It is an interestingly beautiful, mystically intriguing, Romeo and Juliet Magic Kingdom left there on the mountainside to spark the imagination of the child within each of us.
The Bar-C Dude Ranch was living quarters, museum, office and rental cabins located just north of Turner Falls Park entrance. This property was purchased by Dr. Collings from John W. Williams in 1943. John Williams, Tom Frame, T. Easter and Will Moore organized Turner Falls Park Company in 1925.
Local builders worked on the Bar-C while Onis Wilson quarried the rock by hand from Clabe Russell's property and sand was hauled by Doyle Dalley.
The largest of the buildings was living quarters, museum, and office. Collings had a large collection of Western Art, Sculpture, Spurs, Bridles, etc. That collection in now in the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City and Woolaroc Museum, Tulsa.
Dr. and Mrs. Collings lived at the Bar-C and Dr. Collings commuted three times a week to Norman until his retirement in 1958. He was a member of many educational organizations and writers clubs. He was an active member of the Murray County Historical Society. Dr. Collings was listed in Who's Who in America and donator to the Cowboy Hall of Fame degrees.
Address: 580-369-2988
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