Opposition to changing the name of Lake Hudson

SALINA, Okla. (KTUL) - A legislative plan to change the name of Lake Hudson is not popular on the shores of the Mayes County reservoir.

It's the economic engine of Salina, and people don't like the idea of change.

Republican State Senator Michael Bergstrom of Adair has authored a bill to make the switch.

The lake is named after the late Washington Hudson.

He was a prominent attorney who has been linked to the founding of the Ku Klux Klan in Tulsa, but people in Salina tell us the lake's name is part of the area's history, and we should accept that history has some rough edges.

Mayor Casey McWhirt is among them.

He said, "Personally, I really don't think the name needs to be changed, but I’m just one opinion," he said. "I don't see a lot of people wanting it changed, but you never know."

The people we talked with said it's strange, it's suddenly an issue almost 50 years after the lake was filled in the 1960s.

Lake Hudson was created by the construction of the Markham Ferry Dam on the Grand River.

Bergstrom would like to rename it "Lake Markham" for the family that operated the ferry and a general store in the area before the lake was impounded.

At the Salina Chamber of Commerce, they're worried about expenses the change would create. It would require everything from new signs to promotional materials.

Chamber Secretary Marcia Fulkerson said, "It'll be enormous for the chamber and the whole town. I mean, everything will change. I mean, there will be a lot of expense to change everything."

People here think the state legislature should leave things alone.

Josh Smalley said, "I don't like it. I grew up here. It's gonna be Lake Hudson to me no matter what. It's always been lake Hudson to everybody around here."

In fairness, we should note that Hudson made contributions as a state lawmaker, a Dean of the TU Law School, and as a Grand River Dam Authority Board Member, but the GRDA is supporting the name change.