Harrah History Center(69)

Jonathan Elmore
Dec 22, 2025
2 min read

HARRAH

Not too far west of Oklahoma City is a town that prides themselves on being the "Heart of the Heartland". Harrah is a great little town that has a ton of amazing history and a hopeful future. I stopped by the Harrah History Center to see what I could see and I found out there are a few things I really needed to know.

The fist thing I discovered for myself was the origins of the town. While I was looking around the museum, I saw a couple of mannequins dressed in festive Eastern European garb. Since I'm no expert, I didn't know from which country, but I knew they were from that part of the world. It turns out that they are Polish, and Harrah was founded by 10 Polish families in the late 1800s. History always makes me wish I could have a time-travel TV so I could see the thoughts of those 10 families when they pulled up to this area and said, "Yep, we're home." or maybe, "Tak. Jesteśmy w domu." since they were Polish and everything. HA! (That's from Google Translate, so if it's wrong, blame them!)

Another things I learned from the Harrah History Center is something near and dear to my heart, baseball history. Two brothers from Harrah named Paul and Lloyd Waner, Big Poison and Little Poison respectively. They were a big part of Major League Baseball from the 20's to the 40's, racking up impressive stats and playing against all the names you can think of from that era. I won't bore you with the hits, runs, and errors stats, but they're impressive even by today's standards. I was told that there is a project in the works to do a film about them with long time actor and director Henry Thomas at the helm. I can't wait to see it. I may even mosey over there and watch some of the filming if I can.

One thing for sure is I'm glad the Harrah Historical Society is keeping the history of the area alive for us to experience it. Make a trip to the museum and while you're at it, roam around town and see the sights too.

20881 Main St., Harrah

405-454-6911

Entry Fee: Free

Hours: Tuesday 10:00-4:00

https://www.harrahhistoricalsociety.com