Historical Society Birthplace

The society began with a show of hands. At their third annual business meeting, nineteen members of the Oklahoma Press Association heard William P. Campbell of Kingfisher describe how Kansas was saving its newspapers and agreed to sponsor the same here. Campbell became "Historical Custodian," with no bylaws, budget, salary or office. Within four months he had collected complete sets of nine daily and forty-seven weekly newspapers, kept in a room of the courthouse. A rival society organized at the University of Oklahoma won a charter on January 21, 1895, and the collections moved to Norman.

What the plaque says

Historical Society Birthplace Oklahoma Historical Society was organized May 27, 1893, by the Oklahoma Press Association, in convention at Kingfisher. The Society headquarters were estab- lished in the first courthouse, at Sixth and Admire, and remained in this city until 1895. Oklahoma Historical Society and State Highway Commission, 1961

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Chisholm — 0.9 mi
  Kingfisher's farming and ranching museum on the Chisholm Trail's stage branch, with a heritage village and Horizon Hill, the mansion a territorial governor built for a capital that never came.
• Historic Fort Reno — 21 mi
  The Army post beside the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency at Darlington, from which troops chased the Northern Cheyenne north in 1878, later a remount station and a prisoner-of-war camp.

More markers nearby

• Kingfisher — 0.2 mi
• Kingfisher Stage Station — 0.5 mi
• Kingfisher College — 1.5 mi
• Run of '92 — 1.5 mi