Welcome to MUSKOGEE
Say Hello to Henry
Most days you’ll find Henry Peak visiting with folks at Peak’s Place Saddle Shop down on old South Main Street. Tucked among the many antique shops lining this early section of downtown Muskogee, Peak’s Place is the place to pick up a custom piece of leather work and a little local flavor.
Henry provides the local flavor along with generous helpings of the history of the town he’s lived in most of his life. The octogenarian was born in Muskogee in 1921 and is a card-carrying member of the Cherokee tribe. Henry claims that the famed Cherokee linguist, Sequoyah, can be found on his family tree.
“My great-grandmother was a half sister to Sequoyah,” Henry will explain if you stop to chat with him and he’ll hand you a book on area history marked at the page where his family genealogy is outlined.
Henry has a wealth of stories about growing up in Muskogee during the lean Depression years. He sold newspapers as a barefoot nine-year-old on the street corner not far from where Peak’s Place is located today. His willingness to sit and talk a spell is typical of the small-town, slow-paced friendliness found here.
Old South Main is now an antiques mecca for the treasure hunter in you. Whether you visit Peak’s Place, D&G Collectibles, Two Friends Gallery, the Grand Flea Market or one of the many quaint shops on South Main, you’re sure to find a unique little piece of Muskogee to take home with you.
- Jonita Mullins
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