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The museum is open 10am-5pm 7 Days a week
121 N Weenonah Ave, Claremore, OK 74017

Admission Is Free But Donations Are Welcomed

 HOUSTON SUMMERS

Telling the history of Claremore…one story at a time This article was written by Barbra Pool, niece of Houston Summers and Claremore Museum of History Historian. Memorial Day is set aside to honor our military heroes, many which are no longer with us.  There are other…

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 JOSEPH STERLINE HOGUE

Telling the history of Claremore…one story at a time   Published in the March 1947 Ranchman Magazine, by Ferne E. King. Long before the sun topped the mountains of Eastern Tennessee, on a morning sixty-one years ago, a mule team hitched to a wagon,…

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The Great Bunion Derby

  The Great Bunion Derby           In March, 1928, the great Bunion Derby, a footrace across the United States, began in California, and Andrew Payne, the local entry, took off walking east with the rest of them.  A Claremore businessman, who launched a drive to…

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Lee Gilstrap

Telling the History of Claremore…one story at a time This article was written by Larry Larkin and published in the Claremore Daily Progress, Edition April 16, 2017. He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way.  He had a boogie style that no one else…

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A Day in Santa Fe

A Day in Santa Fe directed by Lynn Riggs and James Hughes. As the title suggests, the film portrays life in Santa Fe during the course of a single day, a format structuring many city symphonies. Riggs and Hughes evoke daily life in Santa Fe…

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P. S. Gordon Hall of Fame

Patrick (p.s.) Gordon is a world-renowned artist and painter. He was born to pioneer Claremore parents, Janelle and Jack Gordon, at the Franklin Hospital in 1953, and delivered by his uncle, Dr. Minor Gordon. His aunt, Elizabeth Gordon, was Claremore’s first female mayor and is…

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Dr Bob Blackburn Hall of Fame

Dr. Bob L. Blackburn is Oklahoma’s most noted historian. He is a graduate of Southwest Oklahoma State University and earned both his master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from Oklahoma State University. In 1980, Blackburn joined the Oklahoma Historical Society, earning the title of…

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Lt. Col. Lee F. Gilstrap

In 1916, Lee F. Gilstrap was a 16-year-old bugler for the First Oklahoma Infantry commanded by his father, Major Harry Gilstrap. When America entered the first World War, Gilstrap, then 18, volunteered to serve in France under his father’s command. On October 8, 1918, Company…

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Maggie Fry – Poet Laureate

Telling the History of Claremore…one story at a time OKLAHOMA’S POET LAUREATE, EMERITUS Oklahoma Poet Laureate, Emeritus Maggie Culver Fry was born near Vian, Oklahoma in 1900. Her parents lived a mile from her maternal grandparents, and she spent much time with her grandparents. Her…

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John Melville Bayless: Banker, Builder, and Businessman

Telling the History of Claremore…one story at a time Published in Explore Claremore History July 2022, by Christa A. Rice. Banker, builder, and businessman, John Melville Bayless came from Cassville, Missouri, and made significant contributions to the “up building” of Claremore, Indian Territory,…

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