In October 2022, the Ferguson Home Museum celebrated 50 years of service to Watonga, the state and beyond. Opening in October 1972, it seemed an almost impossible dream to turn the 1901 home of T.B. and Elva Ferguson into a museum. T.B. had passed in 1921 and Elva in 1946, and thereafter, the home was owned by Mrs. Ella Cordell, who turned the Victorian mansion into a duplex. By 1967, Mrs. Cordell put the rather dilapidated structure up for sale. The front porch and balcony had been removed for leakage. However, Mrs. Ellen Shaw and the Mother’s Self Culture Club (of which my mother was a member) accepted the challenge to buy and restore the property.
Fundraising among the 16members of the club, of which Elva Ferguson was a charter member, fell short and businessmen of the community signed a note for $9,000 to buy the property. To obtain funds from the Housing and Urban Development as suggested by Lady Bird Johnson, the City assumed ownership only to learn HUD could not fund the purchase based on a technicality. The property passed to the State Office of Tourism and Recreation.
Senators Roy Boecher and Rep. Bill Gooden passed legislation in the state legislature in 1969 providing $15,000 for restoration, but this was not enough to begin reconstruction. Another appropriation of $10,000 was obtained in 1970, and a final appropriation in 1971 of $10,000 allowed reconstruction to begin. Carlisle Rice, who built many a house in Watonga, and his crew began the extensive restoration including the front porch and balcony and interior work. Cook’s Paint and Wallpaper Company of OKC provided period wallcoverings. Interior trim was obtained from pieces saved during remodeling by Mrs. Arthur White of Geary, saving hundreds of dollars in milling costs. Max Shaw, the owner of the lumber yard, cut 784 pickets for the fence.
Citizens of Watonga and surroundings donated period pieces (1900-1921) to furnish the building. The museum opened in October of 1972. By November 1987, some 54,972 people from around the globe had visited the museum!
Today, strong demand to visit the museum continues. Not surprisingly, after 50 years, the 122-year-old structure again requires work. I am confident Watonga will rally behind the present owner, the City of Watonga, and the Friends of the Ferguson Home Museum to again put the structure in proud form.
Please attend the Tea at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6 at the First Baptist Church of Watonga to begin this process. Tickets from a hostess or for purchase at the door for $10.
Source: This old House… in Watonga by Ellen Shaw, 1989