When Jason Harris arrived in Kingfisher, the Chisholm Trail Museum “was on the verge of being closed by the state.”

Six years and a name change later, the museum and its surrounding attractions appear to be thriving.

“We had to turn it around and keep it viable,” said Harris last Thursday when speaking to the Kingfi sher Lions Club.

Harris is the executive director of the museum and when he arrived, the museum had about 1,800 visitors for the entire year.

It topped that number in March alone of this year. Last year, there were some 12,000 people to visit.

Harris and staff have worked hard to build those numbers.

He’s added attractions such as the Chuck Wagon Gathering, which has continued to grow in each of its six years.

It started out with a “couple hundred” visitors in its first year and has grown to 2,500 this year.

The museum hosted a summer concert series this year and has enough funding to continue it next summer and at least part of 2026 as well.

Harris has also done his part to travel the state and let people, mostly in schools, know about the museum and its several attractions.

He said he spoke to some 18,000 students last year alone.

That and more has helped the museum become an attraction in Kingfisher.

“We’re doing good things,” he said. “We’re making a difference.”

The museum officially changed its name to “The Chisholm” earlier this year and refocused its mission on Oklahoma’s farming and ranching heritage.

This year the museum will celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Harris has kickstarted a capital campaign to raise $6 million over six years to commemorate that anniversary, renovate the museum “and provide a path to sustainability for the next 60 years.”

He said some $2.5 million has already been raised, which will allow for the first phase of construction to begin this winter.

The first phase is the preservation of Heritage Village, which includes two log cabins, Kingfisher Bank, Gant School and Harmony Church, which is all on the museum’s grounds.

Phase II and Phase III are hopeful for next year.

Phase II will seek renovations to the museum’s collections storage building, which includes exterior upgrades, new lighting and ventilation, insulation and the creation of a dedicated fabrication workshop among other projects.

Phase III focuses on Horizon Hill, also known as Seay Mansion.

It will include restoration efforts to repair the structure, add new grading and landscaping and expand access.

Harris hopes to make the mansion a focal point for community events, temporary exhibits, outdoor festivals and more.

“We want to make that a usable space,” Harris told Lions.

The fourth phase of the project will renovation of the main museum.

That includes extensive improvements including new public spaces, new exhibits and more, he said.

Harris added that phase of the project could take up to three years to complete.

“We are going in the right direction,” Harris said. “But we need help and we need people in the community to know what we’re doing.”

Harris provided some literature to Lions that’s also available at the museum. It offers detailed information about the campaign and all the proposed improvements.

It also includes donor information, for which there are multiple levels, as well as naming opportunities.

For more information, visit Harris at the museum, call him there at 405-3755176 or email him at jharris@ thechisholm.org.