Reader updates info on Glover’s Tourist Court

Tourist courts were early versions of roadside motels, and Sallisaw had one of its own.

It is unknown if Glover’s Tourist Court was interesting to the larger area, or if it was because it was a local business owned by local people.

During this era, postcards were very popular and for it to be saved for more than 50 years, it likely meant that their stay there was a time worth remembering.

Jane Hensley, a reader of Your TIMES, reached out with some information about Glover’s Court. Hensley said her parents were friends with the owners of the Tourist Court, O.B or “Obie” and Maude Glover. Even with that little bit of information, Your TIMES was able to learn more about the courts and the Glovers.

Your TIMES discovered from previous articles that the Glovers were the parents of Betty Glover, an honor student at Sallisaw Schools.

Your TIMES received this 1940s postcard in the mail of “Glover’s Tourist Court.”

In April 1942, Betty entertained some friends at a slumber party, which included Nell Smith, Dorothy Frye, Norma Ruth Wood, Dorothy Welch, Gelene Stormont, Lela Jean Reynolds, Grace Fears, and Jo Ramsey.

Maude Glover was a part of the Redbud Garden Club, and would often host their meetings or give weekly lessons.

Obie had been in the hospital at one point to catch up on “543 months of lost sleep from overseeing the motel,” as stated in a 1954 article of Your TIMES.

The tourist court later changed its name to “Sallisaw Motel,” based on articles printed in Your TIMES between the 1940s and 50s.

A few years later, the Glovers reportedly sold the motel to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Estep and they began to run the operation, according to Hensley.

Earl Strebeck, with the Sequoyah County Historical Society, said after owning the motel for a few years, the Esteps sold it to the Tackett family and it became “The 64 Motel,” which they extended and added a swimming pool.

The center of the establishment was the original motel before it was extended, which can be seen on page 75 of the Sallisaw Pictorial History book. There also was a business called Tackett’s Cafe that ran advertising in Your TIMES.

Both Strebeck and Hensley said that Glover’s Tourist Court sat on the southwest corner of the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and U.S. Highway 59, near where Dollar General and EZ Mart now stand.

Thanks to a reader in Eldorado, Kan., our readers were able to have a small glimpse of the past, even if it was “just” a small town motel. It has a simple history and not everything has to have a huge groundbreaking event to be remembered. Sometimes being special to a small group of people is enough.

Your TIMES chose to donate the postcard to the Sequoyah County Historical Society.