Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City is home to a one-of-a-kind museum, the Museum of Osteology, which is devoted to the study of bones and the forms and functions of the skeletal system. Although the museum isn’t that large — only about 7,000 square feet — it houses hundreds of once-living things. With more than 300 skeletons, 98 percent of them real, on display, exhibits range from the exoskeletons of invertebrates to the endoskeletons of a full range of vertebrates, including full human skeletons. Exhibits showcase how skeletons allow different animals to move, how the animals have evolved and what their bones can tell us about how they lived.
The museum also provides murder mystery dinners for groups, which “have been really popular,” said Tabbi Burwell, marketing and communications manager for the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau. Group members can also bring their own lunches and enjoy them at the museum’s covered picnic area.
One of the city’s most visited museums is the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, which honors the victims of the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. The museum is now renovating and taking “more of a digital approach” in its exhibits, Burwell said, and the memorial itself acts as a “free outdoor museum” that’s open to the public at all times.
The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum features Western fine art, as well as cowboy and Native American art and artifacts, such as rodeo saddles, historic firearms and traditional Native American clothing and crafts. Inside, there’s even a to-scale replica of a Western frontier town that features a railroad depot, a blacksmith shop and a livery stable.
“The amount of artifacts and exhibits and astonishing artwork — you can spend hours in there,” Burwell said.
