A little bit of history is opening up right around the corner. After being shuttered for many years, the Washita County Historical Museum will re-open to the public beginning next Friday, June 3.
Confirmed dates are every Friday through July 22, 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Continued operation of the museum will depend on support from the community. A donation jar is available so that those who wish to contribute to the upkeep of the museum can do so.
Visitors can expect to be greeted by Cordell Class of 2011 graduate Callie Beech-Seibold. She has graciously volunteered her time and is looking foward to expanding her love for history.
“I have been wanting this [museum] to be opened forever. My kids are really into history and I’m a history fanatic. I want people to understand that this is really neat and this is something that is part of our history. There’s a lot of things in here, even just this building,” expressed Seibold.
“My aunt is the one who always told me about Cordell’s history and that’s where I really got into it,” she continued.
The Washita County Historical Museum is located at 115 E 1st St in Cordell and is housed in what used to be the old Carnegie Public Library. The building was built in 1911 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Seibold went on to say, “Cordell is such an old and historical place and I would love to see [the museum] grow and have people visit and come through and reminisce. I think it would really benefit everybody. This is the coolest place.”
The museum is dedicated to pre-serving and enhancing the history of Washita County. There are over 10,000 items exhibited throughout the museum.
Admission is free and you can view at your own pace. There are photo albums and scrapbooks that visitors can flip through as well as many interesting artifacts that can be viewed.
Stop by your local museum and reflect on the way things were and view how Cordell and surrounding areas looked at one point in time.