Whether you're visiting southeastern Oklahoma to see the 2024 total solar eclipse or just passing through the area, you'll want to stop by these unique museums and historic sites in Hugo and Antlers. From a wildlife museum where you can get an up-close look at fallow deer to a circus-themed diner, there are several attractions packed with local history in both McCurtain and Pushmataha counties.
Pushmataha County Historical Museum - Antlers
Learn about daily life in early twentieth-century Oklahoma at the Pushmataha County Historical Museum. Located in Antlers, known as the Deer Capital of the World, the museum explores the history of the surrounding county through exhibits on early schoolhouses, rail travel and local historic events. One of the most impressive exhibits is a large wall map of the area, originally published in the early twentieth century, that illustrates villages, schools and landmarks that have long since disappeared. During your visit, browse the sizable research library complete with an archive of county newspapers or visit the outdoor monument dedicated to those lost in the 1945 Antlers tornado.
Wildlife Heritage Center Museum - Antlers
The Wildlife Heritage Center Museum in Antlers is an attraction featuring both historic exhibits and animal encounters. The museum, housed in a log cabin, features several displays on hunting and local wildlife. Check out static displays of animals like black bears, whitetail deer and red coyotes or read up on antique fishing poles. After touring the indoor portion of the museum, step outside to visit the live animal enclosures next to the cabin. Fallow and whitetail deer roam the outdoor pens where visitors can observe them up close.
Mount Olivet Cemetery - Hugo
Learn about Hugo's history as "Circus City" with a visit to the Mount Olivet Cemetery. Hugo received the nickname when several circuses started to use the city as a winter headquarters, thanks to the mild climate of the area. Since the mid-twentieth century, fifteen circuses have wintered in Hugo including the Kelly Miller Circus and Carson and Barnes Circus.
Today, visitors to the Mount Olivet Cemetery will find several grave sites belonging to notable circus and rodeo performers. The cemetery is the final resting place of Hugo's founder, William H. Darrough, and rodeo greats Freckles Brown and Lane Frost. Showmen's Rest, a special area marked by an elephant headstone, is dedicated to the several circus showmen laid to rest in the cemetery.
Frisco Depot Museum - Hugo
The Frisco Depot Museum explores another side of Hugo's history as a railroad town. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the depot was originally built in 1914 as a stop on the Frisco Railroad's east-west line. The depot remained in use until the 1960s and was later transformed into a museum in the 1970s.
Today, the location houses a collection of historic documents and several artifacts including a Bell telephone switching center and antique whiskey still. Visitors can even tour a restored Harvey House dining room, a diner that once operated as part of a chain of railroad restaurants throughout the western United States. After seeing everything the museum has to offer, take a seat in the converted baggage room and order lunch from the full-service restaurant that now operates in the depot.
Angie's Circus City Diner - Hugo
After a long day of exploring local history, sit down to a delicious meal at Angie's Circus City Diner in Hugo. Angie's Circus City Diner serves up both delicious Southern-style cuisine and a slice of local history with its carnival decor and vintage circus posters.
Dig into homestyle entrees like chicken fried steak and meatloaf paired with sides of fried potatoes, green beans, or mac and cheese. For dessert, order one of many delectable sweets like peach cobbler, banana pudding or Italian creme cake baked daily by owner Angie.
