Historical Marker Program

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Creek Capitol

Okmulgee County
Location: inside north door of Creek Capitol (DAR)
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Daughters of the American Revolution
Topics: American Indians; Government; Territorial Period, 1861–1907

The Creek Council House, now a museum, occupies an entire city block in downtown Okmulgee. An original building was erected in 1868 but was razed for construction of the present structure in 1878. See Creek Capitol.

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Grayson

Okmulgee County
Location: in community of Grayson
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Ethnic Diversity; Land Openings; Settlement Patterns; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Urban Development

Grayson is one of thirteen All-Black towns, out of more than fifty that once existed, remaining in Oklahoma. While Tullahassee is reportedly the oldest, most were established between 1889 and 1907 as African Americans sought security and control of their own destiny in a segregated world. Most of the towns began to decline in the 1920s and 1930s as rural African Americans faced economic hardships and began to move to urban areas.

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Landmark for All Generations Okmulgee Colored Hospital

Okmulgee County
Location: 210 N. Wood Dr., Okmulgee OK
Material: Granite
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Ethnic Diversity; Social/Cultural; Urban Development

The vision for this building became a reality when the city acquired four lots from William Morton in 1920. In 1922 Okmulgee's black citizens secured $25,000 in donations from federated clubs and their own leading citizens to complete the funding to construct the first "colored hospital" to be opened in the state of Oklahoma. Even though the building was completed, the black community had to raise additional funds to equip the hospital and make the building operational. In 1924 a group of black citizens formed the Colored Hospital Association. The hospital was opened in 1924 and housed 18-20 beds with living quarters for a staff of six to seven nurses. The building was estimated to cost $50,000. In 1936 the building was leased for three years to Dr. J. H. Burt.
Important medical services and care were provided at the hospital, but it also served as a symbol of segregation prior to the Civil Rights Movement. When Okmulgee integrated a number of health facilities in 1957 the Okmulgee Colored Hospital was closed.
In 1984 the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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Samuel Checote

Okmulgee County
Location: on OK-56 on grounds of Creek Council House Square in Okmulgee
Material: Aluminum
Topics: American Indians; Education; Military; Westward Expansion, 1803–1861

Samuel Checote was the first elected Creek chief after the Civil War and spent much of his life serving as a Methodist minister. Checote was a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army.