Waynoka Historical Society, Oklahoma, United States
5.0 (7 reviews) Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #2 in Waynoka Speciality Museums • Natural History Museums
Railroad and Harvey House History
The old Santa Fe Depot is located at this place. Also on site are a restored railroad section house and scale house, as well as a pioneer log cabin. Museum features Waynoka's transportation history - Santa Fe Railroad, Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls, and Transcontinental Air Transport - TAT, Oklahoma's first transcontinental airport. Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart were officers in TAT.
Address
1383 Cleveland St, Waynoka, OK 73860-1143
Mobile
Website
http://waynoka.org
Current local date and time now
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 11:53
User Ratings
5.0 based on (7 reviews)
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Reviews
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5Richard S 5:00 PM Sep 26, 2015
Seldom visited, but a hidden site to add to your out-of-the-way trips
The Waynoka, Oklahoma, Historical Society is housed largely in the refurbished Harvey House attached to a partially restored Santa Fe railroad passenger station. The Fred Harvey chain fed passengers on Santa Fe trains prior to the start of dining cars on the trains. In addition, in 1928-1929 railroads of the east, the Santa Fe Railroad, and the TAT, the Transcontinental Air Transport pushed by Charles Lindbergh hoped to move passengers from the east coast to the west coast in 48 hours by night-time train travel and day-time plane flights exchanging passengers at airstrips at such places as Waynoka, Oklahoma. The museum has an excellent collection of articles, photos, and moments of this short-lived effort. I was the first to sign their register since June. It is a shame for this IS a specific museum worth the visit.
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5Jodee d 5:00 PM May 20, 2017
Lots of railroad history here in this small town gem.
The Waynoka Historical Society has a fine museum in the Harvey House building next to the historic Santa Fe depot as well as historical buildings across the street. Be sure to explore all of it. Sandie Olson will be your guide and has a wealth of knowledge about the history of Waynoka, the railroad and the Transcontinental Air Transport. The latter came into being in the late 1928 and was a means of traveling from New York City to Los Angles in only 51 hours. Go to the museum to learn about this. Fascinating! One can learn about the lifestyle of the Harvey Girls, the entrepreneur Fred Harvey who developed restaurants & other food services to serve train passengers on trains, German POWs who worked in the ice house and more. Don't miss it.
