McAlester Group Wants To Buy Founder's Mansion

The McAlester Old Town Association wants the public to help it buy the mansion built by the city’s founder and namesake.

Thursday, January 17th 2019, 4:30 pm

By: Richard Clark

McAlester Group Wants To Buy Founder's Mansion

The McAlester Old Town Association wants the public to help it buy the mansion built by the city’s founder and namesake.

The association calls the effort "Your Home McAlester." It says the campaign will be a community-wide effort allowing individuals, organizations, business and industry to help the McAlester Old Town Association to purchase the mansion from the private individual who owns it now.

Construction on J.J. McAlester’s home in Old Town McAlester began in 1870 and was completed in 1885. The first structure was a cabin and trading post which was eventually incorporated into the mansion. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

“We have multiple objectives: preserving the legacy of our city’s founder, J.J. McAlester, by transforming portions of the home into a McAlester Family and McAlester History Museum," said Brenda Baxter, President of the Old Town Association.

The group also wants to provide a venue for all types of special events.

The group will officially launch the campaign next week.

James Jackson McAlester was born in Arkansas in 1842 and grew up in Fort Smith. He served as a United States Marshal for Indian Territory from 1893 to 1897 and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1911. He died in McAlester in 1920.

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