Blair, Oklahoma

You're driving through Jackson County, near Altus. Right here, in Altus, is where Emily B. Smith took over the struggling junior college during the Great Depression. Enrollment had plummeted to just twenty-seven…

Altus, Oklahoma, a town perched on the southwestern plains at nearly 1,300 feet, has seen its share of notable figures. The Air Force base hums with activity, a constant reminder of its critical role in the local…

Sixty-plus rooms in a 1907 hospital building. Free admission.

Designed by Solomon Layton in 1906. National Register of Historic Places.

Texas claimed this land for 36 years. The Supreme Court gave it to Oklahoma in 1896.

The very first shelterbelt tree was planted on the Curtis farm near Mangum on March 18 1935.

Since 1966 thirty thousand people descend on Mangum to watch rattlesnake handling.

2455 farms and 19 cotton gins. Then the dust came and buried them.

Founded 1882 on the Western Trail. Tin shacks and cattle drives.

You're driving through Greer County, and right here in Mangum, you're standing in a town that was the county seat even when this land belonged to Texas! That's right, Mangum was chosen as the county seat back in 1886, a…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're driving through a landscape shaped by a massive effort to fight the Dust Bowl. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1934</say-as>, President Roosevelt launched the Prairie States…

Right here in Mangum, you're passing through the hometown of Victor Wickersham, a man who ran for public office more times than any other Oklahoman in the state's first century! He was so friendly, he answered the phone…

You're driving through Mangum, the county seat of Greer County. This area was once a vital stop on the Western Trail, where massive cattle drives passed through starting in 1876. The town itself was established in 1882…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're driving past a place that made history for women in corrections! In 1927, Clara Wilbanks Waters became the first female warden of an all-male institution in the United States. She took…

You're driving through Granite, Oklahoma, a town born from rock! Back in the 1880s, cattlemen roamed this land. Then, in 1889, a post office opened, and the town got its name from the hard granite found in nearby…

Inmates quarried the red granite that built half the state capitols buildings.

You're driving through, or maybe just past, the area where the legendary Doan's Crossing once stood. Back in the late 1870s, this spot on the Red River was a critical point for cattle drives heading north from Texas. In…

You're driving through Jackson County, and right here, you're following in the footsteps of history. Long before Oklahoma was even a state, this land was a vital corridor. Back in the 1600s and 1700s, Spanish explorers…

Did you know Oklahoma has a history of copper mining? Right here, in southwestern Jackson County, near the town of Creta, Eagle-Picher Industries strip-mined copper shale from 1965 to 1976. They processed about 1.5…

You're driving past Headrick, Oklahoma, a town that owes its very existence to a railroad and a bit of old-fashioned town relocation drama! Back in 1901, promoter T.B. Headrick established this townsite. But here's the…

You're driving past Quartz Mountain State Park, or Quartz Mountain Nature Park as it's known today. Back in 1935, this was one of ten sites chosen by the Oklahoma Legislature to become a state park. Local citizens in…

You're driving through Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, a town born right when the reservation opened in August 1901. It sprang up along the railroad tracks and was named for the famous Kiowa Chief Lone Wolf. Imagine this: the very…

You're driving past Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, the hometown of LaVern Erick Weber. Born here in 1923, Weber rose through the ranks of the National Guard, becoming the first chief of the National Guard Bureau to reach the rank…

You're driving through the heart of Oklahoma, and right here, you're passing through land that was once wild, waiting to be claimed. Starting in 1889, much of central and western Oklahoma was opened up to settlers…

You're driving along the Red River, and you might not realize it, but you're crossing a boundary that was fought over for nearly 200 years! It all started way back in 1819 when the U.S. and Spain argued over the border…

You're driving through what used to be the center of a massive border dispute between Texas and the United States. Right here, in Old Greer County, the Red River's true path was a mystery for decades. It all started…

You're driving through the Quartz Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. These aren't your typical jagged peaks; they're ancient granite formations, remnants of a geological drama millions of years in the making. But the…

You're driving through southwestern Oklahoma, a region that was once known as the Leased District. This land, originally granted to the Choctaw, was leased by the United States starting in 1855. The goal was to create a…

You're driving through Greer County, crossing a landscape that was once nearly deserted. For thousands of years, from 5000 B.C. to around 1200 B.C., a brutal drought called the Altithermal turned this region into…

Right now, you're driving through a place that used to be known as the Twin Territories. From 1890 until Oklahoma became a state in 1907, this land was split into two: Indian Territory, mostly in the east, and Oklahoma…

Right here in Oklahoma, you're passing through a place that connects to a pioneering woman in state politics. Gladys Rogers Warren, born in Brinkman back in 1911, was the first Oklahoma woman to ever make the runoff for…

You're driving past Olustee, a town with a name meaning 'pond' in Seminole. Established in 1895, it quickly became a hub for trade. But here's the quirky part: the Frisco Hotel, built by a promoter who skipped town…

You're driving through Oklahoma, maybe past places like Roosevelt, and you might be missing out on a slice of history that used to roll right into town. Imagine this: traveling shows, bringing a mix of medicine and…

You're driving through Roosevelt, Oklahoma, a town that owes its name to a Rough Rider and a future president. Originally called Parkersburg, the townsite organizers couldn't use that name for the post office because…