The Union Agency, Honor Heights Park, Muskogee, Muskogee County, OK

Field records also include field notes for HABS No. OK-53
1992 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Entry
Significance: South of Reservoir, also atop the hill, is the Union Agency, which today houses the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. The result of an 1866 treaty between the United States and the Creek Nation, the Union Agency, was built by the U.S. Government in 1875 from limestone. Its purpose was to house the consolidated agencies of the Cherokee, Chicksaw, Coctoaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, functioning from then on as the Union Agency. This event is credited as the premiere catalyst for the establishment and 1898 incorporation of the city of Muskogee, the most important city in Indian Territory. Aside from its use as the Union Agency, the building was also used as a fort. At one time a telescope sat atop the building allowing every point within a 25 mile radius to be seen. From 1878 until 1891, when the property was purchased by the Creek Nation, the building served as a school and orphanage for the children of Creek freedmen. For 35 years after the city of Muskogee purchased the property in 1909, the building housed a dance hall, tea rooms, and offices for the American Legion. After renovation in 1920, the Union Agency was renamed the "Chateau."
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-30
Survey number: HABS OK-54
Building/structure dates: 1875 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 70000535