The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show you around the Cherokee Strip Museum and the Rose Hill School. Let’s get started!

The plaque above reads: “The Cherokee Strip opened at noon on September 16, 1893, in the largest land run in history. By horse, train, wagon and on foot more than 100,000 land hungry pioneers raced for 40,000 homesteads and the valuable town lots.”

Museum

The Cherokee Strip Museum explores the history of the region from 1893 to the 1930s. They collect and preserve the history of the Cherokee Outlet through artifacts, writings, photos, and interpretive text. The main museum building contains exhibitions on farming, ranching, homesteading, Indigenous peoples, business, and more. You can see a few examples below!

Did you know Buster Keaton had Oklahoma ties? I learned something new on this visit!

Rose Hill School

The Rose Hill School was built in 1895 northeast of Perry. This one room school house was where students in the first through eighth grade came to learn.

The school building was moved to Perry in 1971 to the Cherokee Strip Museum grounds. The building came with a lot of its original furnishings. I loved the old cast iron stove in the middle of the room!

In 1988, the Rose Hill School was set up as a 1910 schoolhouse by the museum. Students from across Oklahoma in the third and fourth grades visit the school for living history programs. You can learn more about the program and access resources on the Oklahoma Historical Society website.

Implement Building

The Implement Building was full of old farming and ranching equipment. There were also a few historic wagons and buggies as well.

Misc. Outdoor Items

Outside the Implement Building and Rose Hill School are a few other historic items. There is a small jail, sorghum mill, and ‘flying Jenny’ merry-go round.

Blacksmith Shop

The Blacksmith shop lobby contains several historic artifacts dating back to the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

Through the second set of double doors was a large shop where blacksmithing demonstrations are done. They had a small set of bleachers where people could sit and watch.

Concluding Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed seeing some photos of the Cherokee Strip Museum and Rose Hill School. This was an interesting stop in Perry, Oklahoma!

I’ll see y’all soon in the next post! Happy traveling 🙂

Visit

2617 Fir Avenue

Perry, OK 73077

Sources

Cherokee Strip Museum & Rose Hill School – website

“Cherokee Strip Museum and Rose Hill School” – Oklahoma Historical Society

“A Day at Rose Hill School” – Oklahoma Historical Society

Plaques in the museum