George M. Murrell Home

This historic mansion built in 1845 by wealthy merchant, George M. Murrell, who married the niece of Cherokee Chief John Ross, stands as the only antebellum mansion in Oklahoma, and is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and is a Certified Trail of Tears site.

Murrell was a Confederate supporter, and the Rosses favored the North, which is probably why the house survived the destruction that befell those around it during the Civil War. After the war, various Ross relatives lived in the home, as the Murrells spent most of their time between their other plantations in Virginia and Louisiana. Ross relatives occupied the house until the allotment of Cherokee land in the early 1900s.

This historic mansion built in 1845 by wealthy merchant, George M. Murrell, who married the niece of Cherokee Chief John Ross, stands as the only antebellum mansion in Oklahoma, and is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and is a Certified Trail of Tears site.

Murrell was a Confederate supporter, and the Rosses favored the North, which is probably why the house survived the destruction that befell those around it during the Civil War. After the war, various Ross relatives lived in the home, as the Murrells spent most of their time between their other plantations in Virginia and Louisiana. Ross relatives occupied the house until the allotment of Cherokee land in the early 1900s.

When the home became a museum in the 1950s, many original Ross and Murrell furnishings were returned to the home. Beautiful grounds include an original springhouse, an 1896 smokehouse and a log cabin. The adjacent park area offers picnic tables, a nature trail and Park Hill Creek. A mid-nineteenth-century Lawn Social is held annually on the first Saturday in June at the site, featuring period reenactors, music, dancing, games, craft demonstrations and more. Gift shop on site. Special arrangements can be made for group tours of 15 or more people, and living history programs for school groups are also available.

The George M. Murrell Home is also rumored to be haunted.  Don't miss the home's annual Ghost Stories event and learn about the mysterious black dog that suddenly appeared along the local creek behind the home one night more than 150 years ago, the woman who appears in the home's attic window, or the little girl who appears on the stairs.