Visit Enid's Midgley Museum

By Curtis D. Tucker, Enid Buzz | Sunday, May 8, 2016
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ENID, Okla. - There's a hidden jewel in Enid, Oklahoma that many people don't know about. Thousands drive by it daily without giving it a second thought. It's a museum that overlooks Enid's busiest intersection at US Highways 81 and 412.
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The Midgley Museum (a.k.a. The Rock House) was originally owned by Dan and Libby Midgley and their daughter Eva Fothergill. Today, the museum is owned and operated by Enid Lodge #80 Masonic Lodge. The museum is located at 1001 Sequoyah Drive across the street from Champlin Park.
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The Midgleys planned the design of the unique house and set out to collect the rocks, fossils, and petrified wood that make up the exterior walls and interior fireplaces of the museum. The family commissioned Texas stonemasons to construct the home. There are thirty four different kinds of stones used in the building. These stones were collected in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arkansas. Most of these rocks and fossils were found near Lake Texoma.
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Many of the materials that make up the home came directly from our own state. The 7,000-pound petrified tree stump at the front of the house near the street is fossilized redwood found near Woodward, Oklahoma. The fireplace is made from priceless fossil stone and a glass-encased gypsum selenite, the largest removed from Oklahoma's Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge.
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You'll step back in time when you enter the Midgley Museum. Rooms are filled with items from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Many artifacts come directly from daily life including early day electric toasters to cut glassware. There are display cases full of toys, gems, fossils, early tools and memorabilia. There are also collections of stamps, coins, sharks teeth, and arrowheads. A bedroom and parlor contain decor from the early years of the last century.
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The museum also contains two very unusual collections. One is a trophy room that includes buffalo, a Royal Canadian elk, moose, javelinas and other trophies. This room was constructed with reinforced walls designed to accommodate the additional weight of the displays. The other unique collection is housed in a closet lit with a black light. Florescent rocks reveal their brilliance and beauty within the darkened room.
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The Midgley Museum has free admission, but donations are welcome. There is a gift shop located on site. Visitors are invited to browse the museum between the months of April to November.
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HOURS:
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 1:00-4:30pm
Saturday from 2:00-4:30pm.
Closed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and all Major Holidays
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