Clay and Anthony were out Friday painting the front of the museum. The columns are up and painted and the front has been scraped and painted. It’s really attractive now to drive by and admire. Clay has worked on getting the doors so you don’t have to use such force to open or close them. The home was built in 1901 so a lot of settling and warping has taken place. The windows in the door on the south side of the front and two doors upstairs have the same etching on them so I assume the main front door had it too and at some point it was replaced. Landscaping has been done in preparation for planting next spring. Thanks again to Clay, Anthony, Jena and Sandra for your hard work.
In 1894 efforts were made to get a railroad in Blaine County. The railroad came 6 years later when the Choctaw Northern and the Enid Waurika branch of the Rock Island came through within weeks of each other. In almost every edition of the Watonga Republican the editor was telling of the wonders of the new territory, asking people to come west to “this paradise of the prairies.”
There’s a pair of Edwardian child’s red leather shoes on the second floor. These leather children’s shoes are from around 1895. The shoes had a single button clasp around the ankle and a bow on the strap and a low heel. There is also a pair of black and white high button Victorian baby shoes. The coloring kind of reminds me of saddle oxfords that I wore as a child. There is a pair of baby boys brown Victorian high button shoes. In my opinion it would be hard to get a baby to hold still long enough to button those small buttons. I know they had button hooks but you would still have to work fast.
We are getting ready for the Halloween Bash Saturday evening between 6:00 and 9:00 pm. There is a $2.00 entry fee for anyone daring enough to come. It won’t be like one of the large warehouses in Oklahoma City but it will be as exciting as we can make it with our small group of volunteers.
We would like for different businesses or groups to come to the museum and decorate a Christmas tree. People can come to the museum to vote by donating $1.00/vote on the tree they like best. They can vote more than once. We would like this to be done November 22 through December 3 so we can take pictures and have them at the Christmas Bazaar December 4 so people can also vote on them there. If you are interested, call the museum at 580-623-5069 and let us know. Be sure to leave your name and call back number since we don’t have caller ID. This will help us decorate the museum too. If you can’t make it during our regular hours we will be glad to open after hours.
We are planning on having breakfast with Santa November 20, 8:00 to 10:00 am, and it will be drive-by. When we had the drive by for the Chicken Noodle Dinner several people commented that they like the idea of drive by so we thought we would try it for Breakfast with Santa due to Covid-19. Santa will still be there for pictures if anyone wants a picture with Santa.
The Ferguson Home Museum is run by the Friends of the Ferguson Home Museum, a non-profit organization that seeks to preserve the T.B. and Elva Ferguson Home as a historic landmark and to interpret the early day lifestyle of a politician, newspaper owner, and pioneer from the Cheyenne and Arapaho land opening in 1892 up to 1947.
Our Membership drive is still going on. As a member of the Friends of the Ferguson Home family you will receive:
Regular Ferguson updates
An invitation to member events
Upcoming event news
Satisfaction of being part of a worthy cause
If you would like to become a member of the Friends of the Ferguson Home or for more information, please come by for an application or contact us at 580-623-5069.