Legacy thumb|Display of Gene Autry memorabilia at the Autry National Center, including his original Martin D-45 guitar, the first one made On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of Ardmore, was renamed Gene Autry in his honor. Though Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, his family moved to Oklahoma while he was an infant. He was raised in the southern Oklahoma towns of Achille and Ravia. Autry had also worked as a telegraph operator near Berwyn. In 1939, he bought the Flying A Ranch on the west edge of Berwyn, and the town decided to honor him by changing its name. Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's Melody Ranch radio show. Expectations that Autry would make his permanent home on the ranch were heightened when Autry's house in California burned down just 8 days before the name change ceremony, but dashed three weeks later with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Autry joined the military in 1942 and sold the ranch after the war.
Legacy thumb|Display of Gene Autry memorabilia at the Autry National Center including his original Martin D-45 guitar the first one made On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of Ardmore, was renamed Gene Autry in his honor. Though Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, his family moved to Oklahoma while he was an infant. He was raised in the southern Oklahoma towns of Achille and Ravia. Autry had also worked as a telegraph operator near Berwyn. In 1939, he bought the Flying A Ranch on the west edge of Berwyn, and the town decided to honor him by changing its name. Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's Melody Ranch radio show. Expectations that Autry would make his permanent home on the ranch were heightened when Autry's house in California burned down just 8 days before the name change ceremony, but dashed three weeks later with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Autry joined the military in 1942 and sold the ranch after the war.