The Museum Broken Arrow

05/28/2026

★Museum Broken Arrow is pleased to participate in Blue Star Museums, a program that provides free admission to currently serving U.S. military personnel and their families during the summer. 🫡

The 2026 program will begin on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 16, 2026, and end on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2026.

Learn more and find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/BlueStarMuseums. Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and participating museums across America.

“Museums help military families stay connected—to each other, to their communities, and to the nation they serve,” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “As our country approaches 250 years of independence, Blue Star Museums provides service members and their loved ones with meaningful opportunities to explore history and spark curiosity. For military families—who often face frequent moves and time apart—these shared museum experiences offer a sense of stability, belonging, and connection. By opening doors nationwide, this program ensures they can engage with the arts and history that reflect their sacrifices and strengthen the bonds that hold them together.”

This free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States military—Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, and members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps—and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.

05/27/2026

⛈Forecasting weather from BA - with a kite!🪁
Early in the history of the agency, the Weather Bureau recognized that measurements of the upper atmosphere were critical to expand the science of weather forecasting.

In the fall of 1917, Broken Arrow Pioneer, Mr. F.S. Hurd received a visit from weatherman V.E. Jakl, who was looking for a place with wind - lots of wind, a never-ending and inexhaustible supply of it - to carry kites into the sky.

Betty Knight Broach, F.S. Hurd's granddaughter, says that her grandfather obtained the land. "My grandfather bought the land for the purpose of the weather station," she said. Hurd leased the land to the government for $1 a year. The land stayed in the Hurd family until Ms. Broach sold the final 14 acres to Gatesway. The round house stayed on the property until 1980, when it was finally removed for Gatesway expansion.

Professor Charles F. Marvin, in charge of the Weather Bureau's Instrument Division, was directed by then Chief, Willis Moore to study methods for sustaining automatic instruments at high elevations. Marvin's work utilized a self designed lightweight meteorograph attached to a box kite design by Australian Lawrence Hargrave, tethered to the ground by piano wire.

Kite stations were established at six locations in 1918 in the central and eastern U.S.: Ellendale, N.D., Drexel, Neb., Royal Center, Ind., Groesbeck, Tex., Leesburg, Ga., and Broken Arrow, Okla. The Broken Arrow Ledger reported on August 15, 1918 that the areological station, known as the Broken Arrow Areological Station, opened east of town. It was located on East College Street where the Gatesway Foundation is today. The station was equipped with 25 kites and were flown daily. They would put up as many as four kites, one hitched at about 500 foot intervals from the top kite which held the measuring instruments. They were all held together with 5 miles of piano wire. The largest was 9 feet wide by 4 feet wide deep. The kites were launched, and retrieved, from the back of a Ford Model T. Although the station was noted as a kite center, sounding balloons also took off from BA. It was staffed by Henry Adams, J.A. Reihle, Paul Hartman, Chessor Bowles, Leslie Warren, Wallace Malone, Lois Keeter and Elmer Moody.

One story reported was on a windy day in March, the line parted while the kite was high in the air was carried to Southern Kansas before it landed. Another story was one of the kites broke loose and drifted with a long section of wire dragging and passed directly over the field in which young Harley Wagner was running a cultivator. The wire crossed a Public Service high line and touched the mane on one of the horses killing it instantly. The wire also touched the iron handle on his cultivator and threw the young Wagner from his seat! Local children always looked for a kite to fall because it was common gossip a $5 reward would be paid for the return of the kite and instruments.

By the mid 1920's, efforts began to shift to using airplanes in place of kites. The Groesbeck, Royal Center, and Broken Arrow kite stations discontinued their observations on June 30, 1931.

Learned more about Kite Stations on the NOAA site: https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/nws-heritage/-/flying-kites-for-science

05/26/2026

🎨This is the last week to see amazing A.R.T. Group Show🖌
Ribbons have been placed, but come and decide for yourself what your favorite piece is!
Discover the vibrant world of art with Alpha Rho Tau, where creativity thrives and community bonds strengthen through shared experiences and events.

The museum is open Tue-Sat and the first floor, including the temporary gallery, is always FREE!

05/25/2026

🫡Today is Memorial Day
Please take time today to remember the men and women who fought for our freedom.
Take time to share the stories and memories of these individuals with your family and friends... especially the children. Write these stories down or record them. Please document these memories for future generations. Do not let these memories and stories become lost.

05/23/2026

What stores did you remember shopping at downtown in the 90’s?

For this Flashback Friday, let’s take a look at Broken Arrow’s Main Street, also known as The Rose District, in the 1990s and today.

Did you ever shop at local favorites like Felts Family Shoes, Kemp Hardware, or Petrik Drugstore?

Some of the names have changed over the years, but Broken Arrow’s community spirit has lasted for generations.

Thank you to Oklahoma Memories, the Oklahoma Historical Society, and Jim Argo for helping to preserve and share our history.

05/21/2026

🏨First Motel in BA.🛎
Yeager's Motel was Broken Arrow's first motel opened on July 25, 1958. Designed and constructed by J.C. Yeager as a western style courtyard. Sitting just south of First Street on State Highway 51 (Now Kenosha Street) it sat one block from Main Street. It originally opened with 7 units while construction was completed for 12 in total. Featuring tiled showers, Vented wall furnaces with cool air conditioning and full size beds. During the Mid-20th century, there was a "Motel boom" transforming highway travel and offering motorists affordable, car to door convenience.

The motel was managed by the Yeager's until 1962 when Carl Moseley, who operated the Deep Rock service station on Kenosha leased it from the Yeager's. Carl continued to manage the service station, while his wife managed the motel. Renovations were made and a pool was added to the site. In 1963, the motel name was changed to Sand's Motel, run by Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Campbell.

In 1967, Joe Crain and his Helen were looking for a retirement business when they purchased the Sand's Motel. They said their work day went from 18 to 24 hours, but they liked Broken Arrow. Their daughter and grandkids would come from Kansas City to test out the pool in the summer. Joe and Helen were also officers and members of the Broken Arrow Pilot Club. They owned the motel until 1980, when they moved to Tonkawa, OK.

It stayed the Sand's in through the 1980's. Today, the motel is still there as the Broken Arrow Inn.

05/20/2026

🍗Who won the 2026 King Cluck Award?👑
The winners for Broken Arrow's Best Fried Chicken, voted on by the guests of the 90th Annual Pioneer Dinner are:

🥇Roy's Chicken (Back to back titles!)
🥈Houligans Corner
🥉Charlies Chicken

🙌A big thank you to all of our dinner sponsors: Houligan's Corner Wingstop Walmart Broken Arrow - E Hillside Dr Roy's Chicken of Coweta and drinks by Raising Cane's

Broken Arrow Fried Chicken District Rooster Days presented

05/19/2026

05/16/2026

continuing from Main Street

05/16/2026

Join us live from the Museum Broken Arrow for the Rooster Days parade in the Rose District.
Happy Rooster Days!🐔

05/14/2026

🎥Watch the 2026 Rooster Days Parade LIVE right here!🐓
This Saturday, May 16th at 10am, we will LIVESTREAM the entire Rooster Days parade from the 2nd-floor balcony of the Museum, right in the heart of the Rose District!
Watch the floats🐎, hear the bands🎺, and see all the classic cars🚗 from the comfort of your own home!

This is a tradition we love to share with those who can't make it down to Main Street. Who's going to watch?👀

The 1956 picture was taken in front of Nusho Theater on Commercial and Main Street. You can see the same building on the right side of the 2023 picture.