Woods County’s heritage is documented in five different museums across
the county. In Alva, the Cherokee Strip Museum Complex, located on the
west end of town right across from the “big water tower” on Oklahoma
Boulevard, features the area’s history since the Cherokee Strip Land
Run in September of 1893. The museum is open daily Tuesday through
Saturday. On the NWOSU campus, the largest
collection of extinct water and plains fowl is housed in the Natural
History Museum. Also at the museum are artifacts from Native American
tribes which roamed the region for thousands of years prior to
settlement. At the Alva Regional Airport, a collection of aviation
history photos and artifacts are on display in the terminal building.
Waynoka’s Santa Fe Depot and Harvey House Museum complex highlight the
region’s rail and air history, early pioneers to the region, and offer
glimpses into the community’s ties to the agriculture sector. The Depot
and Harvey House have been accurately preserved through painstaking
restoration and certainly are worth a “look see”! In Freedom, the
museum is located on Main Street and houses the Burnham Site
Archeaological Dig artifacts. Also on display are area pioneer tools, a
large barb wire collection, homesteading photos and artifacts. Click on
the links to the right for more information!