Fort Gibson Restoration – Fort Gibson

Address:	907 Garrison Ave. Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 74434	County:	Muskogee
Started:	1936	Completed:	1939
Agencies:	WPA	NRHP:	10/15/1966

Current Usage:

National Historic Site and Living history museum.

Description:

First established in 1924 by General Matthew Arbuckle to assist in covering the newly established southwestern frontier and Indian affairs in the region, it became one of the most important military posts in the southwestern for 66 years. Because of its long history the renowned Oklahoma Historian Dr. Grant Foreman began a movement during the 1920s to restore the fort and reconstruct the original garrison so that all Oklahomans would know that “Fort Gibson was the oldest military establishment in the annuals of Oklahoma and was in its early days the farthest west outpost of the United States and in many respects continued for years to be one of the most important on the frontier” With the help of the WPA the reconstruction process began in 1936 and careful attention to detail of original materials was used to reconstruct the garrison and restore some of the 1850s constructed native stone buildings.

Officially listed as a National Historic Site on Dec. 19, 1960.

Visited: 10/13/2023