Preserving History: Inside Guthrie's State Capital Publishing Museum

Located in historic downtown Guthrie is the State Capital Publishing Museum built in 1902 before statehood.

“Everything you see in it today, the colors, the furniture, all of it is original to the building on opening day,” said Kord Stockwell, State Capital Publishing Museum board chairman.

Stepping into the space feels like stepping into the past.

“This is where you would come and take care of any license filing you needed to, or any property deeds,” said Stockwell.

The original documents are still in place.

“My favorite piece in the wall is a piece that references the war of the great rebellion, which is what the Civil War was called before Abraham Lincoln,” said Stockwell.

In 1907, in a window in this building, the telegraph in which President Roosevelt declared Oklahoma the forty-sixth state was received. That telegram was then brought here to the second story balcony where statehood was officially announced.

“This machine here is one of the oldest in the building,” said Stockwell.

The main function of the building was home to the town newspaper, and still intact are the many printing presses.

“I mean this is every bit of 120-years-old at this point and still operates very fluidly,” said Stockwell.  

At the time there were two daily editions, and a lot of work went into making that happen.

“A lot of people will know of this machine from the Waltons, John Boy did his printing on a Chandler and Price,” said Stockwell.

There is a case for the fonts used, capital letters at the top and noncapital letters beneath.

“That’s why to this day we call them upper case and lower-case letters,” said Stockwell.

The plans are to complete the renovations and use the space as a museum, as well as office space and rentable event space.

“Lots of joy will be had in this building,” said Stockwell.

For history buffs, especially Oklahoma history, the place is simply amazing. It needs to be completed for the world to see, the fund-raising event is October 24. For more information on the event and the museum visit www.publishingmuseum.org