Har-Ber Village

Clinton, Oklahoma
Hargus RV Park

Yesterday was such a wonderful day, seeing the Van Nuy's again and meeting the Peine's and also touring the Har-Ber Village.  It just doesn't get much better.  

There were so many photos to go through, I waited until today to tell you about the Har-Ber Village that the Boyer's told us about.

We wanted to tour the Village first thing in the morning as the weather forecast was predicting windy and stormy weather.  

When we arrived at the village, we looked at the visitor center and it didn't look like the village was very big, but it's a case of looks can be deceiving.  The admission fee was $7.50 for seniors.   

I looked at the brochure as we started the one mile walk through the village.  There were 102 exhibits listed on the brochure.  

The name Har-Ber came from Harvey and Bernice Jones.  
There is a video in the building that tells the story of the couple.  I'm going to save that part of the story, for when you visit the village.

This room is a collection of Harvey and Bernice's private collections.

There was a place for you to play checkers or dominoes.

This building was the stagecoach inn saloon.    Look at all the details in this room.

Bill loved the back bar in this saloon.

The next building we went into was the native american museum.

I thought this Papago basket was beautiful.

I always think of Vicki Allen and Rondo when I see these post offices.

The Rural mail delivery wagon was outside the post office for a photo op, but the wind was whipping so hard, I thought we should keep moving.

I suppose I forgot to mention that the village is bordered by the Grand Lake O' the Cherokees. 

The building had plexi-glass to protect the contents. This building was the doctor's home.  In the front of the building was C. P. Sisco's doctor office which displayed period medical equipment.

Bill can always find a barber pole somewhere.

Notice how they have the mustache curler labeled so you know what everything is in the barbershop.

The original buildings in the village have been dismantled and reassembled. Each one is furnished consistent with the time period and use. There were benches and chairs everywhere so you could stop and rest.

 We always find a school in these villages.  The children only went to school about 3 months during a year because they were needed at home.  The blackboard was the original one from the Mt. Home School near Goshen, Arkansas.

The  brick bank building fixtures came from a bank that went out of business during the depression.

I'm sorry the photos didn't come out better, it was a beautiful bank.

The bank had an interesting safe.

The village grounds were beautiful and well kept.

I must say the walk was very steep, but we kept stopping to look at things, and didn't realize how far we had walked.  The walkways were all concrete and a lot of the buildings had ramps.  There were benches everywhere so you could sit and view the village.

When you walked into the church, an audio played telling you about the church.

Even though the church was small, it was well appointed with beautiful stained glass.

The sewing shop had these beautiful wedding dresses. 

Of course, every village has a hat shop for that time period.

The laundry had all kinds of different equipment.

I remember the wringer washer that I used.

Now you know how they made lye soap.

The other walls of this photography shop were covered with old cameras.

The still had a sign that said a squirrel took up residence in the building.  

Smoking was very popular in these days.

The mercantile had a great assortment of supplies.

The sign on the wagon says "This 1928-29 Fruehauf trailer is the type used by Harvey Jones when he went from horse and mule drawn wagons to trucks, and became one of the largest privately owned truck lines in America and later incorporated as Jones Truck Lines Inc."

Bill joked with me about the Kodiak bear.

There was a huge collection of dolls on both sides of this building.

Bill has always been fascinated with fancy canes.

Bill can usually spot a firearm that has been incorrectly labeled, this day was no exception.

There was a huge collection of military history covering every war from the Civil War to present day.

I thought this exhibit was the best.  There was a door inviting kids inside to play here.

Can you imagine the fun kids would have climbing up in the loft?

How about a cuff link collection?

Another medical collection was in this building.

The music building had some beautiful instruments.

Of course, every village has a gallows.

There were many fine watches displayed here.

This jail cell came from Springdale, AR.

No, I didn't pose for a mug shot.

Remember me saying that I wanted to revisit Fort Smith?

I was really surprised to see this exhibit here.

Needless to say, this is just a small sampling of the exhibits we saw in this village.  It wasn't crowded and other than the strong winds, was a perfect day.  The village is open from March 15 to November 15.  If you plan on a visit to Oklahoma, I'd put the Har-Ber Village on the bucket list.

Thank you again, Marilyn and L. C. Boyer for telling us about the village.  We loved it, and it's someplace we'd return to.  

We had a lot of rain last night and there were puddles everywhere.  We had no rain, but the winds were strong. We left Grove this morning and drove to Clinton, OK.  I told Bill it was a shame we had an empty black tank or he could have left the contents here in Clinton.  

This is not our normal driving but we are in a hurry to get back to Arizona.  We've been gone since April and the desert is calling.  We'll probably spend the night in Texas tomorrow.  

Turtle Safely.......