Pinney, Thomas. A History of Wine in
America: From the Beginnings to Prohibition. Berkeley:
University of California Press, c1989
1989. p.411 http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft967nb63q/
Oklahoma, or the Indian
Territory, where Judge Doan found his supply of Vitis
Doaniana for winemaking, was not without some
production of its own. In 1890, only a year after
the territory was opened to white settlement,
Edward Fairchild, a transplanted winegrower from
the Finger Lakes of New York, acquired land near
Oklahoma City for a vineyard and orchard. In 1893
he constructed a substantial cellar of native
sandstone, and there, for the next fourteen
years, he made wine for the local trade from
Concord and Delaware grapes.
When Oklahoma Territory became the state of
Oklahoma in 1907, it entered the Union as a Dry
state. That put an immediate end to Fairchild's
winemaking, and to any other such enterprises
that had grown up in the brief history of
Oklahoma settlement. It is a startling fact that,
according to the census of 1910, Oklahoma had
over 4,000 acres of vineyard, putting it eighth
among all the states. Yet perhaps we ought not to
be surprised. No less an authority than T. V.
Munson pronounced Oklahoma to be a splendid grape-growing
region. In recent years the Fairchild
Winery has been carefully restored and entered in
the National Registry of Historic Places. The
restoration makes it possible to get an unusually
distinct and accurate idea of the details of the
actual operation.
Fischer, LeRoy H. "The Fairchild Winery."
Chronicles of Oklahoma 55, no.2 (Summer 1977):
135-156. RG049
Oklahoma's Long History With Alcohol Was
Anything But Dry--Tulsa World, Jan. 28, 2007
http://www.nuyakacreek.com/blog/2008/02/fairchild-wine-vault-in-okc.htm
Fairchild Winery was the first winery to
operate in Oklahoma territory. It's ruins today
still stand as a model of Oklahoma's willingness
to shoot itself in the foot economically.
Edward B. Fairchild, an Englishman who arrived
during the land run of 1889, built this 14 foot-by-41-foot
stone vault. Prohibition of alcohol in the new
state prompted Fairchild to sell his property in
1907.
Grape,
wine group elects officers--Journal Record,
The (Oklahoma City), Feb 13, 2003
Jill Stichler, of Willow Pond Vineyard in
Lexington, has been elected president of the
Oklahoma Grape Growers and Wine Makers
Association. Other officers are Jack Hendrix,
Hendrix Farms in Wellston, vice president; Mike
Greenfield, Greenfield Vineyard in Chandler,
treasurer; and Ruth Sallis, Rushing Wind Vineyard
in Oklahoma City, secretary.
The officers were elected at the Oklahoma's
Grape Growers and Wine Makers Association's
annual meeting in Oklahoma City. Max Knotts,
founder and first president of the association
and a partner in the Dos Okies Vineyard and
Winery in Edmond, was presented with the first
annual Edward B. Fairchild Award. The award was
established by the group to honor a person for
long-term dedication. Edward B. Fairchild is
credited with establishing the first commercial
vineyard and winery in Oklahoma in the early 1890s.
Fairchild Winery produced about 6,000 gallons of
wine per year until 1907 when the operation was
sold as a result of statehood and the onset of
prohibition.
The outgoing president, Robert McBratney of Stone
Bluff Cellars in Haskell, was presented with
a silver wine bucket with grape detail
acknowledging his three years of service as
president of the association.
USAO President Feaver Unveils Oklahoma’s
Endangered Historic Places in Top 12 List
The annual Top
12 list is sponsored jointly by Preservation
Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Historic
Preservation Office. It is a way to bring public
attention to Oklahoma’s diverse historic
resources, says Feaver, who also serves as
president of the University of Science and Arts
of Oklahoma, the only college in Oklahoma to be
named a National Historic District on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Preservation
Oklahoma’s mission is to protect and
promote the state's historic resources,
communities and landscapes through education,
leadership and advocacy. Its offices are located
in Oklahoma City’s striking 1903 Henry
Overholser Mansion near the Capitol. Preservation
Oklahoma advocates for preservation issues at
local, state and national levels, serves as a
clearing house for technical assistance to
homeowners and municipalities.
Subsurface Buildings -- Persian Aquaba
Is
This A Great State Or What? 2003,
Gaylen Culver. KFOR-TV
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