The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post! Today, I want to show you around the Yukon Historical Society Museum Complex in Yukon, Oklahoma.

I dropped by this museum on my way home from El Reno and caught them 45 minutes before they closed. I was able to look through the three railroad cars, but didn’t have enough time to walk through the farm museum. I hope to go back one day and see the farm museum though. Let me show what I was able to see!

Yukon Historical Society Museum

The Yukon Historical Society was founded in 1991 and is still active in preserving the community’s history today. You can visit this museum when they are open or schedule a private appointment. The Yukon Historical Society Museum was previously located inside the Yukon Museum and Arts Center (601 Oak – which was formerly Old Central School).

The Yukon Historical Society Museum Complex was rebranded in 2023 and the photos below show the museums in 2024.

The museum features items from the late-nineteenth century to the present-day. This museum is housed in the gray railroad car in the middle of the property. There are exhibits on Czech history, Garth Brooks, the Yukon Post Office, World War I, and more. The historical society also has several old yearbooks and items from local businesses for people to do research with.

Yukon’s Best Railroad Museum

The Yukon Rock Island Railroad Museum was founded by the two gentlemen in the photo below. This museum has really cool railroad artifacts, a model train, various maps, and photos along the walls.

Railroad Car

This railroad car has been restored on the interior to look like a normal railroad car. It was neat to walk through and see the inside of the train car. At most museums I visit, you are not allowed to walk through the cars. You are only allowed to look through the windows. So, I enjoyed walking around in this one!

E.R. Berousek Farm Museum

The Yukon Farm Museum was founded in the 1990s by Ernest Berousek. He understood the importance of supporting and preserving history. The building on the South end of the lot was actually built around the 1945 cotton picker.

TRAVEL TIP: The Yukon Farm Museum is located across the street in two metal buildings. These buildings do not have heat or air so the volunteers recommended visiting in the fall or spring.

*I did not have time to walk through these buildings on this trip.

Concluding Thoughts

I enjoyed stopping by the Yukon Historical Society Museum Complex and learning about the history of Yukon. I do look forward to going back one day and seeing the Farm Museum though.

As always, pay your local museums a visit and support your local historical societies!

Happy traveling, friend! I’ll talk to ya soon! 🙂

Visit

328-346 Cedar Avenue

Yukon, OK 73099

Sources

Volunteers at the museum complex

Conrad Dudderar. “Yukon Historical Society rebrands museum complex.” Yukon Process (Yukon, Oklahoma), May 20, 2023.