Pushmataha County Historical Society
Pushmataha County Historical Society
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Pushmataha County Historical Society

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Pushmataha County Historical Society

The Pushmataha County Historical Society is a historical society devoted to collecting and preserving the history of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. It is headquartered in the historic Frisco Depot in Antlers, Oklahoma, which it operates as a public museum.

Although Pushmataha County was created on November 16, 1907 – the day of Oklahoma’s statehood – no historical society was established for almost 80 years. On January 20, 1984 a group interested in preserving the history of the county met at the Diamond Steak House in Antlers to found a historical society. At this meeting the following offices were established and the following officers elected: Carl Wood, president; Dorothy Arnote West, vice president; Jimi Moyer Cocke, treasurer; and Anne Halley Smallwood, secretary. John Cocke and Mary Olive Wood were elected as directors.

The organization’s first meeting was held on April 10, 1984 at which a constitution and by-laws were adopted. Incorporation as a not-for-profit entity had already been established.

A general membership drive began at once, and proved successful.

The first major goal of the historical society was to obtain, and preserve, the historic Antlers Frisco Depot and Antlers Spring. Built by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, also called the Frisco, in 1913, it had fallen into disrepair and general disuse. The Frisco had ended passenger operations in 1958 and in 1981 it ended all remaining freight operations. At that time the railroad track and trestle bridges north of Antlers were removed. Track south of Antlers continued in operation for purposes of hauling pulpwood, which was loaded onto rail cars at the Antlers Depot until 1999, when a loading facility was built just south of town.

Burlington Northern Railroad—the successor to the Frisco Railroad—gave the depot to the new Pushmataha County Historical Society in June 1985. Efforts began immediately to stabilize the building and restore it. A new roof, some new window glass, electrical wiring and a furnace and air conditioning system were installed. Much of the labor was donated by area residents.

A second major initiative was identifying and inventorying all cemeteries in Pushmataha County. Many cemeteries both large and small were found, and each grave was carefully listed. As a companion effort the burial records of the local funeral home, Mills-Coffey Funeral Home, were used to accomplish as complete an inventory for each burial site as possible. This effort culminated in the publication of a book in 1988, Pushmataha County Cemeteries—Old and New.

As part of the cemetery identification project almost 12,000 burials and grave sites were inventoried at approximately 119 locations. Several volunteers completed this mammoth project, including co-chairmen Jerry Miller and Everett Helm, assisted by Allan Birdsell, Kay Black, Kenneth and Myrtle Edmond, Christine Ives, Marjorie Rember, and others.

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