Webbers Falls Museum

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501C-3 Non-Profit Organization

Our Mission Statement: To Promote and Preserve the History of the Canadian and Illinois Districts of the Cherokee Nation.

We are so excited to announce that we are moving down into a much larger historic building!! Just NE of where we are on Commercial Street. We need your help to make our dream a reality. Together we can make it happen.

Click Here To Donate

Out with the old, In with the new...ROOF!! Starting April 29th

Clean-up begins...

New electrical load center installed May 1, 2024

Donations can also be mailed to PO Box 5 Webbers Falls Ok 74470

We would like to thank Mike and Jennifer James for treating the Webbers Falls Museum building for mold at no charge. These guys are great!

AMERICAN FACILITY SERVICES

918-577-0535

AFSIPRO.COM

AFSIPRO.COM

Rafters are clean and lights are installed! July 2024

Walls are Painted and Beautiful Cedar Walls going up. Smells So Much Better! September 2024

Beautiful Cedar Wood Walls and Gift Shop Sign November 2024

We will keep you updated on the progress...Thank you to anyone that has donated so far.

Brief History of the

Webbers Falls

Named for Walter Webber and the falls on the Arkansas River, Webbers Falls is located in southeastern Muskogee County on U.S. Highway 64 and State Highway 100, along the bank of the Arkansas River. Early French explorers christened the falls LaCascade. In 1828 Webber, a chief of the Western Cherokee, established a trading post there and brought goods up the river in keelboats. He also operated a "saline" or salt works, which he leased from the Cherokee government. In 1833 the Arkansas Gazette advertised five area salines. A Civil War–era salt kettle owned by David Vann from the Dardeen "Dirty" Creek saline survives at the Webbers Falls Museum. "Rich Joe" Vann, a Cherokee and father of David Vann, established a plantation in the area and built a replica of the mansion that he was forced to leave in Georgia. In 1863 Union troops burned this home along with most of the town but failed to capture Confederate Gen. Stand Watie and his troops, who had established headquarters at Webbers Falls during the Civil War. Brewer's Academy, honoring O. H. P. Brewer, the Cherokee Nation's first superintendent of education, was located in the town. After 1907 statehood it became Webbers Falls Public School. On March 25, 1882, members organized the First Baptist Church, making it the second-oldest Baptist Church in Indian Territory. In 1907 the population of Webbers Fall numbered 332. In 1911 the Webbers Falls, Shawnee and Western Railroad operated in the town, ceased operation after 1914, but reorganized in 1916. At the beginning of the twentieth century the town no longer thrived as a major river trade center. Potatoes appeared to be the area's principal crop. By 1920 the population rose to 480 citizens and remained below or near this figure until the 1990 census reported 722 people. A board of trustee's form of government directs the town. The Webbers Falls Lock and Dam and Reservoir, created in 1970 as part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, has attracted outdoor enthusiasts and aided the local economy. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the incorporated town continued as a terminal for traffic on the Arkansas River with access to the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Like many rural towns, Webbers Falls lost population during the twentieth century, but recent planning increased both economic opportunities and the population. The 2000 census listed 726 citizens, a greater than 57 percent increase over the 1980 census of 461. The 2010 census recorded a drop to 616.

Linda Mayes Miller