McLoud Museum(71)
- Jonathan Elmore
- Jan 13
- 2 min read
MCLOUD
I had a day where I needed to get out of the house and go see a museum. The itch to go see something cool was uncontrollable. Not too surprising. But, as usual, I have things I need to take care of during the day so I had to make a quick trip somewhere. I checked my map. Oooh, McLoud is pretty close. It looked like it was less than an hour away, so I put "McCloud Museum" into the ol' GPS. It said it would take 26 hours to get there. (Confused dog head tilt.) Wait, 26 HOURS?! I'm not walking there!! I thought, "Stupid GPS, I'm just going to start driving that way. I know pretty much how to get there." It was only later when a friend of mine, Susan, who used to live in McLoud, pointed out that I was spelling it McCloud instead of McLoud. My GPS had me going to the McCloud Museum in Northern California instead of the McLoud Museum just up the road a little bit. God love me, sometimes I'm just not that bright. HA! Anyway...
It was a great drive from OKC over to McLoud. I stopped by the reservoir on the way there so I could sit by some water and be quiet for a few minutes. That's good for my soul. After a bit, I continued on to my goal. When I arrived at the museum, they had just let out of a board meeting, so I had the opportunity to talk with a few of the people that help keep this amazing museum going. I walked and talked while I was taking photos of some great things that are historically significant to McLoud and Pottawatomie county. A highlight for me was the old truck that had been refurbished. The story was that the truck had never been more that a couple dozen miles outside of McLoud. Its whole life was local. I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it, the local history and local stories are where the best stories are. Sure, we talk a lot about WWII, the Dust Bowl, and the moon landing, but the greatest history to me is how those things factored in to small town life in Oklahoma. The McLoud Museum has a wonderful collection of that. How world history affected a town in the middle of the country. To the curator and all the volunteers, I say nice work.
If you're roaming around Oklahoma and looking for a cool place to stop, try out the McLoud Museum. Just remember when typing it into your GPS, don't be like me. It's McLOUD and not McCLOUD. HA! Well worth the trip!
421 W Broadway, McLoud, OK
405-964-5169
Entry Fee: Free
Hours: Friday 10:00-3:00
Jonathan Elmore ©2026
