Gene Autry, Oklahoma - Gene Autry OK Museum

In a ghost town 12 miles NE of Ardmore, Ok, off of IH 35, there is a museum dedicated to the Singing Cowboys and B-Western Heroes, from Tom Mix through The Virginian of TV Days. It has movie posters, toys, lobby cards, comic books; over 12,000 items and over 100,000 ft. of display cases. They say the museum has been open for over 18 years in the old school. Each year on Gene's birthday, on the weekend closest to the 29th of September, they have a three day film and music festival, on two stages, with continuous entertainment. Big names like Riders In The Sky perform on Saturday night. Actors such as James Drury, Dale Robertson, Robert Fuller and many more are there each year.

The museum is open year round five days a week. The theme for the festival we attended was "Keepin' The Memories Alive." It was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of good memories. [Ed Henderson, 11/01/2008]