Guthrie Distinctive Homes Tour and Wassail at the Carnegie Library

A tour shaped by the buildings

The organizer says properties are chosen for their architecture, histories and connection to Guthrie’s character. For this December edition, the homes will be decorated for Christmas, while visitors hear stories about the city’s early years as Oklahoma’s first capital.

That combination makes the visit more than a look at historic interiors: the buildings are presented as evidence of how Guthrie developed and how its past is remembered. Wassail served at the Carnegie Library adds a refreshment stop at one of the city’s landmarks.

Further reading: Guthrie Distinctive Homes Tour and Wassail at the Carnegie Library | OHS Calendar ↗ · DISTINCTIVE HOMES TOUR ↗

The capital story has a wider context

The Oklahoma Territorial Museum’s history places Guthrie’s growth within the opening of the Unassigned Lands. Congress opened nearly two million acres in central Oklahoma to settlement in 1889; the museum notes that the land had previously been held by the Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole Nations before the Civil War. Guthrie became the territorial capital in 1890, and Oklahoma Territory lasted 17 years.

That context gives the tour’s stories about Guthrie’s beginnings a broader frame than architecture alone. The homes and civic buildings belong to a city formed during the territorial period, on land with an earlier history.

Further reading: Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library | Oklahoma Historical Society ↗ · Guthrie Distinctive Homes Tour and Wassail at the Carnegie Library | OHS Calendar ↗

A fundraiser for a local tradition

The organizer describes the tour as its largest annual fundraiser, supporting Territorial Christmas and the continuation of the community tradition. It also credits participating homeowners, volunteers, sponsors and supporters with making the event possible.

Further reading: DISTINCTIVE HOMES TOUR ↗