Person, Place, and Thing: Pottawatomie County

It has been a while since my last Person, Place, and Thing post, so to paraphrase the words of Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, allow me to reintroduce this series. Person, Place, & Thing is a blog series I started to help readers—but mostly myself—become more familiar with each Oklahoma county by highlighting a few of the more prominent nouns found within them. I randomly select a country for each new blog until I run out of counties to pick from. The first entry into the series was for Payne County, and you can read that blog here.

My random selection this time around brought me yet another well-known Frontier Country jurisdiction beginning with the letter P: Pottawatomie County. I was excited to draw this one because I have quite the history with Pott County, specifically Shawnee. There is some farmland just north of town that has been owned by the family for years, and we have regular family gatherings there to this day. I also lived in Shawnee for a while during my time as a reporter for the Shawnee News-Star. So without further adieu, here are some of the sights that make Pottawatomie County special.

It’s surely not a Pott County party without a little Wanda Jackson. The Maud native reached international fame in the 1960s as a female pioneer in the world of rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly that, to that point, was dominated by male artists. Her venture into the genre was partially inspired by Elvis Pressley, whom Jackson had a short romantic fling with in her youth. Her classic hits of the time include “Let’s Have a Party,” “I Gotta Know,” and “A Woman Lives for Love.” In the 1970s she made the transition to gospel music but returned to the rockabilly sound later in her career. The Oklahoma Arts Council designated Jackson an Oklahoma Cultural Treasure in 2018.

Today, visitors to the Maud Historical Society Museum can view memorabilia and photos from the Queen of Rockabilly. When in town, you’ll notice the road signs on downtown’s Main Street now read “Wanda Jackson Way.”

Wanda Jackson was born in Maud.

Shawnee’s Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a historic treasure trove of culture unlike anything else in the state. Where else can you find an Egyptian mummy, a shrunken head, ancient weaponry, and an authentic commissioned portrait of a former pope? The Mabee-Gerrer collection was started by Father Gregory Gerrer, a monk at St. Gregory's Abbey in Shawnee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who traveled the world and was passionate about the arts and culture of far away lands. Though St.Gregory’s University was closed in 2017, the Mabee-Gerrer Museum remains open as a favorite of Oklahomans with a cultural curiosity. And to sweeten the deal, the museum recently announced free admission until the end of August 2024.

The Mabee-Gerrer Museum is the only place in Oklahoma to see an Egyptian mummy. Photo by Lori Duckworth / Oklahoma Tourism

Just about a ten minute walk north of Main Street in downtown Shawnee is the Oklahoma Veterans Memorial of Pottawatomie County—a unique five-pointed section of the Woodland Veterans Park that pays tribute to Oklahomans from each branch of military service. While there, visitors can see a wall with the names of every Oklahoman who has died in combat since the Spanish-American War of 1898. This is also a good place to check out some examples of past military technology, including a 1965 Huey helicopter, artillery cannons, and an AIM-7 Sparrow supersonic missile.

Shawnee's veterans memorial pays tribute to all of the state's fallen service members. Photo courtesy Visit Shawnee

Written By

Ben Luschen

Luschen joined the *Oklahoma Today*’ staff as Research Editor in 2021 and currently works as the magazine's Web Editor, managing the website and social media fronts. His past *Oklahoma Today* stories have ranged in content from the state's bee and quail industries to its vibrant art and music scenes. Not adverse to a road trip, Luschen is always on the lookout for the next big adventure. He is never out of opinions about the current state of Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.