The Edwards Store cabin stands today tucked away on a country lane in a wooded valley of southeastern Oklahoma. Held within the hand-hewn log walls of the cabin are the stories of 170 years of inhabitants and visitors who crossed it’s threshold and lived a history spanning from the frontier days of Indian Territory to modern day Oklahoma.
The log-cabin structure was built by Thomas Edwards, an Englishman whose world travels brought him to Indian Territory in the 1840s. He married a Choctaw native, Nancy Hardaway, and the couple established a store at their new homeplace on the Fort Smith to Boggy Depot road, one of the very paths the Hardaway family had been forced to take years before when Choctaw natives were forced from their Mississippi homes to resettle in Indian Territory in what we know today as the Trail of Tears.
In 1858 the Edwards Store became a waypoint for hungry travelers on the Butterfield Overland stage line — the first overland intercontinental public transportation system in America. The stage carried passengers and the U.S. Mail between St. Louis and San Francisco. The Edwards Store was the noon meal stop for the west-bound stage after it had left downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas before dawn.
The cabin is the only original structure remaining on the 192-mile segment of the Butterfield Overland Mail stage line in Oklahoma.
The store also became the original post office for Red Oak, Indian Territory in 1868, before the community was relocated in the late 1800s to its present location seven miles west.
After Mr. Edwards’ death, his nephew Jesse Hardaway and family lived in the cabin. Mr. Hardaway was the local justice of the peace and notable figure in the Red Oak community into the 20th Century. The Hardaway family descendants continuously occupied the cabin until 1981. Many family members still live on the surrounding farmland.
The cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The cabin was named one of the Five Most Endangered Historical Sites in Oklahoma by the preservation group, Preservation Oklahoma in 2018.
The Edwards-Hardaway family has maintained ownership of the property since Mr. Edwards built the cabin. The current descendants and others interested in historic preservation have launched a campaign to restore the cabin structure to its pre-Civil War condition.
The non profit organization, The Edwards Store, Inc., was established in 2019 to raise funds, and manage the restoration and use of the location as an educational historical site for the benefit of future generations.
You can donate to The Edwards Store here:
The Edwards Store, Inc., is a not for profit corporation with 501(3)(c) status with the Internal Revenue Service. Please consult your tax advisor about your donation being tax deductible.