Have I ever mentioned that I am not a big hamburger eater? I’m not. It isn’t the flavor so much as the texture and more often than not they are badly cooked, cheap meat, poorly thrown together slop. But there are exceptions and the exceptions are divine. Just at the edge of the Wichita Mountains, in the shadow of Mt. Sheridan, sits a tiny outpost at which a fine example of the exception is served.

  

Making our ride to the Wichita Mountains, we knew our first stop would be at the Meers Store, first because, well, by that time we were hungry and second because a friend from Apache had bragged one too many times about the amazing Meers seismic burger. And amazing it was.

  

The behemoth is served in what I know as a cake pan, and was easily split between the two of us for a full meal. Other than its size, at first glance it’s just a good burger, but the quality of the meat makes all the difference. Produced from their own herd of longhorns, the meat is fresh and lean, with a hearty rich taste in lieu of a fatty tasteless chemical grizzle.

We had also been told in advance they offered fantastic homemade ice cream and cobbler, so having saved room, we indulged. Somewhat. Truth be told, we barely made a dent in the mountain of cream heaven and cherry deliciousness they brought out in spite of the fact that it was amazing. We had no idea that they would be serving us enough dessert for ourselves and the tables of folks on either side of us.

The last outpost of a once bustling mining town, the Meers Store is the sole remaining landmark of a town that would likely have otherwise vanished from the map. When turn of the century gold fever took hold of the Wichita Mountains, Meers was seated to become a respectably sized town, but after President McKinley declared the Wichitas a wildlife refuge displacing all the encampments and a few years later the mountains were declared unsuitable for mining purposes due to the relatively small mineral deposits, the last of the miners left and Meers nearly went with them. Over the century through a small series of owners the Meers Store has survived and become a real hidden gem. Keeping in mind they get busy fast, plan to visit the early on your next trip through the area and be sure to bring cash as they do not accept credit.

While there be sure to check out the observatory which lends the seismic burger its name. The Meers Fault, visible from the air for miles, runs along the Wichitas and is the only visible surface breaking rupture east of the Rocky Mountains. In a mine shaft about two thousand feet from the Meers Store, the Oklahoma Geological Survey installed a seismometer three decades ago connecting it to a seismograph in the nearest available location, the Meers Store. It is the most sensitive reading station in the country, routinely registering disturbances worldwide.

Read more about the Meers Store and history of the town of Meers here.

 

12 Jun This entry was published on June 12, 2014 at 11:01. It’s filed under Destinations, Motorcycles, Oklahoma and tagged Cheeseburger, Foodie, Fresh, Hamburger, Historical, History, lawton, Local, Longhorn, meers, Meers Store, Mining Town, Mom n' Pop, Motorcycle, mt scott, mt sheridan, Oklahoma, Old West, ride, Territory, wichita mountains. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.