Woody Guthrie was born on 14 July 1912 in a house on the northwest side of Okemah. The house is long gone, but a state historical marker commemorates the site, and it draws a small but steady stream of visitors — folk music pilgrims who want to stand on the ground where one of America's most important songwriters took his first breath.
Guthrie grew up in Okemah through the Oklahoma oil boom years, then watched the town contract as the boom went bust. His family's downward spiral — fires, illness, his mother's institutionalisation — pushed him out onto the road, and eventually to California, where the Dust Bowl refugees he met became the subjects of his most enduring songs. A visit to the birthplace site pairs naturally with a stop at the statue on the courthouse square and a look at his mother's grave in Highland Cemetery.