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Nowata, Oklahoma

Nowata, Oklahoma

Nowata's Historic Main Street is a member of the Oklahoma Main Street Program which strives to preserve buildings, promote economic activity, and recruit new businesses in the historic downtown business district. From the county seat of Nowata County, " No-we-ata"!

The county and city name, Nowata, is derived from a Delaware Indian word, noweata, meaning "welcome." According to one story, two railway surveyors rented rooms from an educated Cherokee woman and asked her for possible station names for towns along the line. The woman suggested "Noweata." There are two stories of how the spelling changed; one is that the post office misspelled the name of the town in their official records; another story tells of how a drunken painter misspelled "Nowata" on the depot and the name stuck.

The town that became Nowata can trace its roots back to 1868 when a trading post was established. The community was first called California Station. When, on November 1, 1887, the first post office was established in the fledgling town, it was named Metz after the postmaster, Fred Metzner. Then, when the Iron Mountain Railway completed a road to Nowata in 1889, the town was recorded.

In 1892, the Cherokee Nation set up the townsite of Nowata and it was incorporated by the Federal Government in 1904, and was chosen as the temporary county seat. It won the permanent seat position in the 1908 election after a spirited contest with Delaware.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Courthouse and War Memorial

The original courthouse was destroyed by fire on January 30, 1909. The new building was completed in 1912 at a cost of $69,594.64.

Adjacent to the Courthouse is the War Memorial Park. The first stone was set in 1950 by the Newton Martin McKellar Post Number 101

Nowata, OK Historic Courthouses

Woody Crumbo Mural

Located in the lobby of the Nowata Post Office is the 1943 mural by Oklahoman, Woody Crumbo. Crumbo, a Potawatomie Indian born in 1912 near Lexington, Oklahoma, was credited with more than 1200

Nowata, OK Arts

Glass Mansion

Another facility owned and operated by the Nowata Historical Society, the Glass mansion, better known as "The Glass house," is as fine a structure as many found in larger cities of the country. Built in 1883

Nowata, OK Historic Homes

Campbell Hotel

The Noweta Lodge was built by a conglomerate in 1910 and was originally named, the Campbell Hotel, which is the name appearing on the cornice of the building. J. E. Campbell and Emma Journeycake (daughter of Delaware Chief Charles Journeycake) were married on January 17, 1878

Nowata, OK Historic Hotels

Nowata County Historical Museum

Your first stop, when in Nowata, should be our own Historical Museum. The museum contains twenty-four rooms of history and memories of the people who began a life of farming, cattle, and eventually oil. Besides the 24

Nowata, OK Museums

Things to do near Nowata, OK