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Origin of Name
Based on this
account
and this article, it is believed that Middleberg is named after the Dutch railroad engineer Martin Middleberg who was sent to this part of what is now Oklahoma to protect the Netherlands' interests in the railroad. As it turned out, Middleberg was also an oil engineer and helped develop many oil companies in Indian Territory.
Interesting 1910 Daily Oklahoman Ad
In the section, "Business Chances Out of the City", "GIN MEN NOTICE - Best opening for gin and elevator in Oklahoma; 3,000 acres in cotton: come at once and see. If you mean business; nothing to sell, J. H. Bryan, Middleberg, Okla." If you have any info or pictures concerning early day Middleberg businesses, please email me by clicking here.
The Middleberg High School reunion will be held at the school, June 12, 2010. The Middleberg community is invited to come help celebrate its 100th birthday.
Dutch railroad surveyors with the last name of Middleberg gave the town its name. Their office was in a railroad car and their job was to help establish tracks between Lehigh and Chickasha to carry coal. There was a post office at Middleberg from November 2, 1908 to March 31, 1932. According to the Alex Tribune, people living in the Ireton, Hawkins, and Tabler areas went to Middleberg to pay fines. There was also a lumber yard, cotton gin, hotel and probably a grocery store. Today, there is no evidence that these buildings existed.
Middleberg was primarily a farming community. L. C. Giles had a cattle ranch, approximately 6000 acres, just east of Middleberg. Also, Mrs. B. A. Smith said she could throw a rock in any direction from her house and hit a whiskey still.
The Middleberg School was established June 1, 1910, ten miles northeast of Chickasha. It was a frame building on a site southwest of the present school building. The old two-story brick building was built in 1911 on the present school site. The two-story building was a four room structure. It looked larger from the outside, but the entrance hall, large cloakrooms and staircase took up much of the room. The east ground floor and east upstairs rooms were the largest. The large upstairs room was used for community gatherings, plays, closing day programs, box suppers, etc. In 1914, B. a. Smith was the census enumerator for Middleberg district.
On June 23, 1919, the school district was reorganized as District 96, Middleberg took in Brick, which was located northeast of Middleberg; Plato which was District 33; and the west half of Sunnyside, which was District 40. East Sunnyside went to Dibble. The school operated as a grade school, doing some unaccredited high school work, whereby when a pupil transferred to an accredited high school, he or she would have to pass an examination on high school work done at Middleberg.
Transportation was the big problem in the early days of consolidation due to unimproved roads and lack of adequate motor vehicles. The pupils were transported with teams and wagons. The wagons were equipped with built-on covers called overjets. A small coal stove was placed in center of the wagons to furnish heat for what was then a long journey to school. Sheds and feed stalls were provided on the school site for the teams, because the drivers stayed all day. When a driver did go home during the day, he usually rode one of his horses home. John McConnell introduced the first motor driven transportation in the mid-1920s, when he built a small wooden constructed body on a T-model truck.
Work began on the present main building in September 1930, after a long protest on the grounds that the proposed building was too large. The building was completed in February, 1931.
Schools were originally consolidated for the purpose of doing accredited high school work; however, Middleberg did not become an accredited high school until 1931-1932. In 1936, when Frank Moore was superintendent, a wood frame gymnasium was built. It had a three quarter length playing floor, dressing rooms, a stage, and a shop room. The building caught fire and burned in 1973.
Dutch railroad surveyors with the last name of Middleberg gave the town its name. Their office was in a railroad car and their job was to help establish tracks between Lehigh and Chickasha to carry coal. There was a post office at Middleberg from November 2, 1908 to March 31, 1932. According to the Alex Tribune, people living in the Ireton, Hawkins, and Tabler areas went to Middleberg to pay fines. There was also a lumber yard, cotton gin, hotel and probably a grocery store. Today, there is no evidence that these buildings existed.
Middleberg was primarily a farming community. L. C. Giles had a cattle ranch, approximately 6000 acres, just east of Middleberg. Also, Mrs. B. A. Smith said she could throw a rock in any direction from her house and hit a whiskey still.
The Middleberg School was established June 1, 1910, ten miles northeast of Chickasha. It was a frame building on a site southwest of the present school building. The old two-story brick building was built in 1911 on the present school site. The two-story building was a four room structure. It looked larger from the outside, but the entrance hall, large cloakrooms and staircase took up much of the room. The east ground floor and east upstairs rooms were the largest. The large upstairs room was used for community gatherings, plays, closing day programs, box suppers, etc. In 1914, B. a. Smith was the census enumerator for Middleberg district.
On June 23, 1919, the school district was reorganized as District 96, Middleberg took in Brick, which was located northeast of Middleberg; Plato which was District 33; and the west half of Sunnyside, which was District 40. East Sunnyside went to Dibble. The school operated as a grade school, doing some unaccredited high school work, whereby when a pupil transferred to an accredited high school, he or she would have to pass an examination on high school work done at Middleberg.
Transportation was the big problem in the early days of consolidation due to unimproved roads and lack of adequate motor vehicles. The pupils were transported with teams and wagons. The wagons were equipped with built-on covers called overjets. A small coal stove was placed in center of the wagons to furnish heat for what was then a long journey to school. Sheds and feed stalls were provided on the school site for the teams, because the drivers stayed all day. When a driver did go home during the day, he usually rode one of his horses home. John McConnell introduced the first motor driven transportation in the mid-1920s, when he built a small wooden constructed body on a T-model truck.
Work began on the present main building in September 1930, after a long protest on the grounds that the proposed building was too large. The building was completed in February, 1931.
Schools were originally consolidated for the purpose of doing accredited high school work; however, Middleberg did not become an accredited high school until 1931-1932. In 1936, when Frank Moore was superintendent, a wood frame gymnasium was built. It had a three quarter length playing floor, dressing rooms, a stage, and a shop room. The building caught fire and burned in 1973.
From The Chickasha Express-Star on May 15-16, 2010