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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Rating Details »
Categories: Museums, Restaurants, Tours [Edit]
1700 NE 63rd StOklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 478-2250
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- None
9 reviews for National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
A wonderful museum, filled with lots of beautiful sculptures (including a pretty sculpture garden), art, and many interesting objects. The building itself is bright and airy.
They also have an attractive restaurant that serves lunch from 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily, and the buffet is a terrific deal at only $8.49 (that was the price in 4/07). It includes two soups, eight types of fresh salad items, three entrées, three "sides" and four desserts (one of which was bread pudding, my ultimate favorite). AAA members receive a $1 discount on admission to the museum.
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- Useful (1)
Easily one of the best museums I have ever visited.
Rolled up here on a wet chilly Easter Sunday expecting to blow through it in an hour, and spend the rest of the afternoon killing time at the airport. This was definitely not the case. I'm not the kind of person to read each and every exhibit tag, but we had to leave after 3.5 hours for our flight, and I'd only seen half of what was on my check list. The museum offers beautiful artwork, unique displays of clothing, guns and weapons; a fascinating display of Western movie props, costumes and posters. My favorite was the truly amazing replica of a turn of the century cow town (shame it wasn't a little bigger). And there is SO much more besides.
As others have noted, there aren't many interactive exhibits, so smaller children might get a little bored. I also found the layout to be rather disorganized and chaotic. But over all, I had a great time. I can't wait to return in the Summer to check out the gardens and outdoor sculptures and exhibits.
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I really enjoyed myself at this museum! The only thing we ever do in OKC is visit family and this time, I wasn't going to have it. The family and I were going to go out, gosh-darnit!!
We looked at the tourism website that listed "Top 50 things to do in OKC"...it was an ok list; they did a lot of double-dipping and scraping to get those 50, but they did it. A few things piqued my interest - this museum, the tropical & botanical gardens and the authentic American Indian cuisine, and lastly, the gambling. I thought it might be fun to play the slots while we were in town, but I was outnumbered by wet-blankets.
Few things to know:
1) The museum is HUGE. It will take you between 2-3 hours to go through it if you look at everything.
2) I think the cost is now $10 per person
3) I recommend just looking at what interests you and then going, if you don't, you may get overwhelmed and it could drag down your experience.
I was expecting some tiny, crappy log cabin type building where they had a few cases of Old-West relics, but to my surprise, it is a humongous and beautifully renovated facility. They have a reception hall inside, a restaurant and a movie theatre. Oh, and they also have meeting rooms and more.
My favorite part, hands down, was the town replica. It was so amazing to see all of the businesses, the furniture, the set-up, the tools and utensils they used on a day-to-day basis. Very intriguing! The bad part is, it's dark in there. I suppose it's the town at night, but it makes it hard to take pictures. That didn't stop me, though. They have a bank, the Marshall's office, general store, church, doctor's office, saloon, hotel...this replica is awesome. I would go back just to take more time looking at stuff there.
The other part I really enjoyed was the contemporary art section. There was some truly innovative and creative art pieces in this section. They don't allow photography, so if I get my pictures up, naturally, you won't see anything funky from there.
Here, you'll find a lot of sculptures, gorgeous paintings and all kinds of items that have been preserved and put on display from the early days of this nation. Clothing, guns, tools, books...it's all here.
I think that everyone should definitely visit this museum. You are bound to learn something and appreciate our history more.
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The National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum is a fine and interesting place. Lots of great art, interesting history, and unique exhibits.
Don't be fooled into thinking that this place is a write-off. It will take you a good couple of hours to take it all in if you're serious about it. But, I must point out that while kids are certainly welcome (and half-price from adult entry) I found that mine got bored quickly. Unless they're specifically into this, you might want to experience it on your own.
That being said, it's thoroughly enjoyable and much more in-depth than most people think it will be. I encourage you to check it out! Adult entry as $10/ea, $8.5/seniors, $4.50/kids 6-10.
What?!? No one's written a review for this place yet?? Oh, wait...I forget. It's Oklahoma. The local men are busy shooting guns, and the local women are busy scrapbooking or some shit. Or...they're at Walmart.
Well, anyhow...
It's actually a very interesting museum. There's information on the Buffalo Soldiers and the story behind Sooners, a whole wing devoted to Native Americans and their artwork, a Rodeo exhibit, a gallery of American firearms, a Western Performers gallery, mountain men stuff, a garden with burial places for famous horses...but my FAVORITE part: a full-size replica of a 1900 Western cattle town.
Call me childish (I prefer "kid-at-heart"), but I wanted to buy play guns in the gift shop and tried to convince my friend Jake to play Showdown with me in the town.
His response: "Uh, no." ;(
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Whenever I'm back in Oklahoma, I like to stop off at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The current title is entirely too long, and for the sake of my overblown sense of nostalgia, should change it back. Everything within the museum is great. I especially love the gigantic murals that adorn the meeting room walls. They're simply amazing.
The best part is that you get to feel like a real shitkicker once you're through, something I can't say about any cultural experiences in my current city.
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(Wow, my 200th review!!!)
I am from the Washington DC area and that makes me very spoilt when it comes to museums. In DC, we have the Smithsonian... for free.
Entrance to this museum is $8 but you can get a $2 coupon from the tourist office. It's better than nothing, I guess. Furthermore, if you have a student ID, that's another $1 off.
There are exhibits here that range from art about cowboys to art by cowboys to art about and by American Indians to stories about the Rodeo, about the wars and about Wild West living. It basically covers all covers of the life of a cowboy. This makes the museum a bit schizophrenic. There is a little bit too much going on with not enough description on the different items. It would be great if there would be tours about the museum. Maybe even in audio form. I just think that there weren't enough stories told about the artifacts. It just wasn't interactive enough.
That said, the museum is very interesting and I learnt and saw some very interesting things. I learned about the different competitions in competitive rodeo and learned about the myth surrounding Buffalo Bill.
All in all, I think it's a very nice museum with great potential. I say that it's an interesting place to visit if you have the time but if you only have time for one thing in Oklahoma City, this shouldn't be it. I'm sure there are better things around.
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Some museums you just need to visit. Not for what they mean to the social fabric of society, but for their collections. Yes, the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum has a long name and some of its decor can be kitschy at times, But you'd have to travel to at least Chicago to find a collection which rivals its breadth. From fantastic, imposing representations of western life by painter Winslow Homer, to actual Remington statues - not cheesy 1/4 scale re-casts you find in mailorder catalogs, but the actual bronzes, to wonderfully preserved clothing and artifacts from the Seven Nations - a walk through the museum is not only an education but an entertaining journey. Even the souvenir shop is worth a walk-through. Don't miss it.
Oklahoma is about Native Americans, and how cowboys and the US Army changed that. The museum will cover most of the wild and checkered history and gentrification of the West, and I learned a lot about the 19th century West. But the museum could benefit from more explanations and a more interactive and visual approach. There is also too much emphasis on naming long lists of cowboys (this used to be the cowboy hall of fame) and Hollywood's rendition of the West.
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