Chisholm Trail Museum and Governor Seay Mansion, Oklahoma, United States
4.5 (23 reviews) Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent Ranking #1 in Kingfisher Speciality Museums
Easy day trip and well worth it!
Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce needs to uncover this little gem for people to come and enjoy. The museum is very complete with exhibits both inside and the grounds in the back. There's a school house, cabin, bank, church and another outbuilding - all very complete with contents appropriate to the period they represent. The interior exhibits are likewise very complete and well explained with easy to read information. Across the street is Governor Seay's Mansion. Unique and lovely home also very complete. Sad to see the deterioration in the eaves outside on the porch area, but I'm sure it's difficult to raise funds for such repairs. This was an easy day trip from OKC to Kingfisher and a beautiful drive. Took Highway 33 there and Highway 3 back. Beautiful!
Address
605 Zellers Ave, Kingfisher, OK 73750-4228
Mobile
Website
http://www.okhistory.org/outreach/affiliates/chisholmtrail.html
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday :
Current local date and time now
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 10:00
User Ratings
4.5 based on (23 reviews)
Reviews
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5Joel A 5:00 PM Feb 3, 2021
Wonderful staff and a great history lesson
Small site, superior presentation of the history and great staff. Plus very affordable. The museum includes maps of the Indian Territory prior to the admission of the state and the Governor's Mansion is just across the street.
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4ttree 5:00 PM Aug 2, 2011
A real surprise - worth a detour!
We headed to Kingfisher on a very hot day in July 2011 - well over 100F - and didn't expect much. Admission was $4 for adults, and what great value it turned out to be! The museum has a short interpretive film about Sam Chisholm and the trail, which helps to orient you. There are then numerous exhibits connected with the time period - clothes, goods, wagons etc. There's a section of the museum that features a reconstructed series of small businesses. Outside, there's a pioneer village with several buildings that have been moved into the location - including a church, a bank, a school, a jail cage, and some small homes. If that wasn't enough for your fourr dollars, there's a guided tour of the amazing Governor's mansion opposite. This was built by Governor Seay of Oklahoma when Kingfisher was the most important town in the state, and was widely expected to become the state capital. Seay built a mansion that he fully expected would become the Governor residence for years to come - in fact, he was the only one who ever lived there as history passed Kingfisher by. It's fascinating how fairly small places in Oklahoma - Poca City, Guthrie, Kingfisher - have all at some time been so important, and ended up with grand buildings that look completely out of prorportion to the current size of the towns. They COULD all have been challengers to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but fate decreed otherwise. But what's left behind is a real surprise - and this museum at Kingfisher proves the point. The mansion's first floor is more authentic than the second, where later occupants have changed the layout of the rooms. Maybe some X-ray surveys would show where the walls have been moved in the future. Kingfisher has another claim to fame - the birthplace of one Sam Walton, who later started the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart. Whether that's something to celebrate or not depends, I guess, on your opinion of Wal-Mart.
