The Cherokee Heritage Center, operated by the Cherokee National Historical Society, is located three miles south of Tahlequah, on the original site of the Cherokee Female Seminary.   This remote area, covered with dense underbrush, was cleared in the mid-1960s and transformed into an attraction Newsweek magazine once called, "One of America's Top Ten Off-the-Road Locations."   The Ancient Village at Tsa-La-Gi opened in 1967 and gave visitors a glimpse of pre-contact Cherokee lifestyle. The Cherokee National Museum opened its doors in 1974 and has since undergone two major renovations.  Adams Corner Rural Village was added in 1978.  Currently, we are developing the Heritage Farm which exhibits livestock commonly found on Cherokee farms.  Also located on the forty-four acre site is the Ho-Chee-Nee Prayer Chapel and the Cherokee Hall of Fame.  Our shop maintains a wide selection of books, tapes, posters, crafts, and other items.

We invite you to include the Cherokee Heritage Center in your vacation plans and visit historic Tahlequah.  Among the sites in the downtown area are: 

• The Cherokee Capitol Building (1867)
• Cherokee National Prison (1871)
• Cherokee Supreme Court Building (1844).  This building was also the site of the first Masonic Lodge in Oklahoma which was chartered November 6, 1848.  The Supreme Court Building also housed the Cherokee Advocate newspaper which was first published on September 26, 1844 and also was the first newspaper in what was to become Oklahoma.
• Seminary Hall on the campus of Northeastern State University.  Seminary Hall was the second of two Female Seminary buildings constructed by the Cherokee Nation. 

In Park Hill you can visit the Murrell Home, built in 1844.  Nearby are the graves of Chief John Ross, Elias Boudinot, and Rev. Samuel Worcester.  Also, be sure to take a look at the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce website and the Official Site of the Cherokee Nation.

March 14, 2001