Museums present fascinating history
Museums present fascinating history

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By Ron Stahl

Published: July 22, 2007

Being somewhat of a relic myself, I rather enjoy a day at a museum. It could be at one of Oklahoma's major repositories of art and artifacts, such as Philbrook or Gilcrease in Tulsa, or the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

I've wandered in wonder through the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman and the Oklahoma History Center near the state Capitol.

I've marveled at the exhibits at Woolaroc near Bartlesville and indulged in some hero worship at the shrine of Oklahoma's favorite son, Will Rogers, in Claremore.

Those are the ones that everyone knows or should know about. They are the big dogs in Oklahoma's pack of museums. But I am also fascinated by the toy poodles of the pack. The smaller, exquisite, delightful destinations may be lesser known but have their own charms and celebrations of things worth preserving.

These little museums are scattered across the state, but Guthrie seems to have a cluster of them, which means you can pack a lot of astonishment into less time without racking up a lot of mileage.

For instance, within just a few blocks in Guthrie, a person can visit the National Four-String Banjo Museum, the International Model Railroad Museum, the Oklahoma Frontier Drug Store Museum and the Oklahoma Sports Museum. Those are the quirky ones. The State Capital Publishing Museum and the Oklahoma Territorial Museum are also in Guthrie.

If sports legends are what you're seeking, the Carl Hubbell Museum awaits you in Meeker. Hubbell, for the younger fans, was a lefty who played for the New York Giants from 1928-43. He was famous for his screwball pitch.

Yankee great Mickey Mantle is remembered by adoring fans at the Mickey Mantle Memorial Exhibit and Museum in Grove, but don't expect a big building. It's in the Hollywood at Home Video Store on W Third Street.

We like to remember our Oklahoma celebrities. The Roger Miller Museum in Erick is dedicated to that prolific recording and television star. But did you know that actress Darla Hood, Alfalfa's raven-haired love interest in "The Little Rascals,” is featured at the Boswell Museum in her hometown of Leedey?

Heck, we even salute celebrities who aren't from Oklahoma. Tom Mix, who appeared in more than 300 Western movies from the 1920s until his death in 1940, is honored with his own museum in Dewey. Mix was from Pennsylvania.

Gene Autry, a Texan, has a museum in his honor and an entire town named for him: Gene Autry in southern Oklahoma.

One of the largest collections of Indiana-born actor Steve McQueen's memorabilia is in Miami, OK, at the Route 66 Vintage Iron Museum. McQueen was a motorcycle racer, and Tony Holden, the museum owner, is a Steve McQueen fan.

The Vintage Iron Museum has more than 25 old bikes, including a 1919 Australian GCS motorcycle that is believed to be the only one left in the world.

Museum manager Chris Martin said the McQueen memorabilia is a big surprise to visitors. "Most people don't know we have McQueen stuff when they come in. Then they go ‘wow' and get pretty excited,” he said.

Martin said the McQueen items include two motorcycles, a Husqvarna racing bike and a 1949 Indian Arrow. Fourteen of McQueen's racing trophies also are on display.

If old iron interests you, the windmills at the Shattuck Windmill Museum will leave you breathless. The museum comprises three acres of restored windmills dating to the 1870s. On days when the wind blows, which is almost every day in western Oklahoma, the air in Shattuck sings with the whoosh of the blades in the wind and the creak of the wooden platforms that hold them earthbound. It is a fascinating display of machines that made the dry prairie livable and agriculture possible.

Oklahomans also seem to be fascinated with rocks. There are no less than five museums dedicated to rocks and minerals.

The Timberlake Rose Rock Museum in Noble is the showcase for the state's official rock. Barite roses are found only in central Oklahoma, and you can find them in many sizes and shapes here.

The Elsing Museum at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa holds a large collection of crystals and minerals gathered by Willard Elsing during the 1920s when his shop was a stop along Route 66.

Richard O. Dodrill's Museum of Rocks, Minerals and Fossils in Cushing features, among other things, a fossilized bison skull and chunks of meteorites.

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists aims to connect people with the Earth at the Tulsa Geoscience Center. Hundreds of historical instruments and inventions pertaining to Earth science are on display, along with rock and mineral exhibits.

The most eclectic rock and mineral museum in the state may be the Midgley Museum in Enid. The building itself is made entirely of petrified wood collected by the Don Midgley family. The largest selenite crystal ever found in Oklahoma is only one of the many attractions.

Dolls may be something children play with to you, but dolls are revered in several museums, including the Eliza Cruce Hall Doll Museum in Ardmore, the Morgan Doll Museum in Altus and the Ida Dennie Willis Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys in Tulsa.

In Pauls Valley, Kevin Stark never got rid of his toys. He just found a better way to store them. You can see them in all their glory at the Toy and Action Figure Museum. You will surely wish you had held on to your Batman doll, uh, action figure.

These are just a few of the out-of-the-way places where obsessions become legitimate items of interest and where we celebrate the magnificent alongside the gee-whiz-what-the-heck-is-that things — in other words, the things that make life and museums interesting.

For more information, go online to the state Tourism and Recreation Department Web site at www.TravelOK.com or call (800) 652-6552.

Related Topics: Cultural Institutions and Parks, Museums