old town museum

It is a small outdoor museum, a replica of houses from old days. Stroll around and look into a school, a fsrm house, the jail, the blacksmith, etc. Quiet and nice short walks. A little gem very accesible from I40W.

Positives: Easy to find, nicely preserved artifacts, great valueNegatives: Limited or no access to some buildings, a lot to seeLocated immediately next to the National Route 66 Museum, this collection of buildings and artifacts is a separate but complementary extension of it's better-known counterpart.From a visitor's perspective, these museums (along with the nearby Farm and Ranch Museum) appear like a single entity. In reality each has a distinct character, focused on a different part of history.Exhibits of each attraction integrate well with others, making these museums seem even larger than they are. This is particularly true of the Route 66 and Old Town Museums. It's hard to tell when you leave one and enter the other. Buildings of all three facilities fit together naturally, and the collections they contain mesh together well.Walking down Memory Lane -The Old Town Museum features an assortment of buildings, some authentic, some reproductions, that represent the past 110 years or so. Most contain authentic tools and instruments typical of daily life into the mid-twentieth century.Some of the collection can only be viewed through exterior windows. Where visitors are allowed inside, access is often limited to the foyer. A few buildings, like the church and main exhibit hall (it resembles an ornate two-storey house) are completely open to patrons.We enjoyed exhibits throughout the complex, but found certain displays particularly memorable. One was a white-frame house featuring medical equipment donated by a local physician. It contained chairs, lighting, and instruments, anatomical models and other paraphernalia that look like props from a 1940's-era movie. These items were state-of-the-art when new but primitive by modern standards.Second was the one-room schoolhouse, moved from Rock Bluff to its current location. The view inside was like looking back a century. The school room contained desks, stove, photos, books and more. We've seen vintage schools before, but this display was particularly well done.The big attraction, however, was the main exhibit building mentioned earlier. It contained a surprising amount and variety of memorabilia from the local area. Some rooms were furnished as they would have been when the community was young. Others focused on particular themes. For instance, a long, narrow room contained military uniforms across the years. Another presented a hodge-podge of by-gone technology, like the original telephone switchboard from the University of Oklahoma, and a hair curling machine that looked more like a torture device than a beautification tool.Exhibits on the top floor were dedicated to the Beutler family and their accomplishments. We've never been involved or particularly interested in rodeo, but were impressed by the continuing impact of their enterprise.My favorite artifact in the entire collection was a simple ribbon from the first State Fair of Oklahoma in October, 1907. It was amazing to see an item from that event in such good condition.Around the Property -Three impressive statues, visible from Highway 66, decorate the south lawn. One is a longhorn cow, a tribute to cattle drives of the late 1800's. The second, a bison, recalls the centuries these beasts owned surrounding grasslands. The final statue is of "Commotion", a champion bucking bronco horse, one of a string of world-class livestock raised locally on the Beutler Brothers ranch. It's said that if this horse had been an Olympian, he'd have been a three-time gold medal winner. Although we didn't go inside, a vintage caboose representing the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway is also on site.The Bottom Line -Touring a museum of this type can be challenging, especially for people that want to "see it all." This facility offers so much it's difficult to take it all in during a single visit. The spread-out configuration complicates matters, as additional time is required to walk from building to building. However, the physical arrangement is also part of the charm, and is a major reason the place retains its authenticity.Some exhibits, such as those in the main exhibit hall, are overwhelmingly large. That's not a complaint...just a statement of fact. Local donors have been very generous and curators have done a great job preserving articles entrusted to them. The entire three-museum complex is worth a visit, even if only for a few hours. If you're a detail-oriented historian, be prepared to invest a lot more time looking at items. At the end of the day you probably won't have seen everything...but chances are good you'll remember this place as we do...with fondness.

This is a well laid out and thoughtfully populated museum of the West of the 1800's. Certainly worth taking an hour to look it over and view the many artifacts of the last century.

O museu é encantador. Ele reproduz os primórdios da cidade e possui as construções originais, como o prédio da escola, o dentista, a maçonaria. Pra quem gosta de história, é fascinante. E as crianças vão adorar espiar dentro das casinhas. Fofo demais.

Si tratta di una eccezionale ricostruzione di edifici originali del secolo scorso. Stores, distributori, chiesa, dentista, barbiere e parrucchiera, scuola, abitazioni, stazione ferroviaria, stazione di polizia, tribunale, farm ed altri di cui si perde il conto. In ogni edificio sono riprodotte con manichini e con oggetti del tempo passato molte situazioni di vita quotidiana, dai giochi per bambini ed altre attività domestiche ad attività lavorative, come ad esempio la centralinista seduta al centralino originale. E' adiacente al National Route 66 Museum con cui condivide il biglietto unico d'ingresso (pochi dollari) ed è un'attrazione assolutamente da non perdere.