Har-Ber Village Museum celebrates the bygone era of pioneer life in Oklahoma. Multiple log cabins house eclectic collections of antiques and frequent living history demonstrations bring the times alive for visitors.
There are no words to describe the feeling that overcomes you as you drive into the grounds at Har-Ber Village Museum and walk the paths through the Village. A visit to this quiet little community on the banks of Grand Lake definitely takes you back in time to a slower paced era when things were handmade and homemade.
Har-Ber Village Museum, on the picturesque wooded shores of Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees in Grove, Oklahoma, is the site of a pioneer-era village and history museum of over 100 exhibits displayed inside authentic log cabins and reproduction buildings. The Village features monthly special events and regularly scheduled historic craft demonstrations and workshops.
Exhibits have been recently renovated. A hands-on activity station map is available for families with children when they check in at the admissions desk. Over 20 activities at exhibits throughout the museum help bring history to life! Events, heritage craft demonstrations and workshops are a part of Har-Ber Village’s offerings. Annual special events include Civil War Days, Ecology and Environment Family Fun Day, Fourth of July Family Fun Day, Art on the Lake Family Fun Day, Pelican Fest Reduced Admission Day, Old-Fashioned Fall Carnival Family Fun Day, Pioneer Days and Cherokee Heritage Days. Periodic demonstrations include blacksmithing, printing and weaving. Learn a variety of heritage crafts during workshops offered throughout the year.
The Country Store gift shop features an assortment of unique gifts, hand-made items and crafts supplies and kits. The Event Tent is available to rent for a variety of occasions. Visitors enjoy walking the site’s Nature Trail and eating their lunches in the Picnic Pavilion or at the Café. Shopping for unique gifts and souvenirs, walking the scenic mile-and-a-half-long Nature Trail or eating in the Picnic Pavilion or Café can all be done without museum admission.
Through self-guided tours, visitors experience the area’s history and ecology, and view antiques, collectibles and reproductions in exhibitions representing the mid-1800s through the early 1900s in the local four-state region (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas).
Specialties
Collections feature dolls, glass, furniture, lamps, pottery, walking canes, etc. Hands-on kid-friendly stations include checkers in the saloon, role playing in a log cabin home, toys in a nursery and writing on slates in a one-room schoolhouse. Special events are offered on at least one Saturday a month. Historic craft workshops are offered on a regular basis and vary from jewelry making to weaving to soap making and more. Gifts and souvenirs are available at the Country Store and lunch may be had at the Café. Eat at the Picnic Pavilion, walk the Nature Tail, rent the Event Tent (2,800 sq. ft.).
History
Established in 1968. Purchased in 1944 as a place for a summer home, Harvey and Bernice Jones never expected to build an antique village. It was established in 1968 when Harvey built Bernice a church on the banks of the lake from bricks handmade before the civil war. Bernice named the Village by using the first three letters of each of their first names. Numerous buildings were added as the Joneses needed places to display the antiques and collectibles they gathered over the years. 98% of the items in Har-ber Village were purchased by the Joneses and the rest was donated. Har-Ber Village Museum's Mission is to collect and preserve historical items, authentic to the American experience, for the whole family to enjoy and understand within a scenic and inspirational setting.
Remember the Past, Celebrate the Present, Imagine the Future!
