WAKITA—Long before Wakita blew onto the international map thanks to “Twister,” the small rural town in Grant County almost on the Kansas border was a bustling community.
Founded in 1893 during the Land Run of the Cherokee Outlet, Wakita boomed to over 400 people in part due to the railway, like much of Northwest Oklahoma did at the time.
There were dozens of businesses including a hotel, the bank, saloons, hardware stores, Wakita Herald newspaper office, and a grocery store plus three protestant churches, which are the only original businesses that still exist today along with a nursing home.
The public school system closed in 2011 with students now bussing to Medford or Pond Creek.
Its name “Wakita” allegedly came from an American Indian language; there are disputes, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society, as to whether it is Cherokee for a small water depression such as a buffalo wallow or Creek for “to cry” or “to lament.” Another legend states the town was named for an Indian chief who died in battle and was buried nearby.
Whatever the case, the townspeople enjoyed their heritage enough that since 1922, former residents and old friends from the now tiny farming town of less than 200 gather each September in honor of when Wakita was settled called Old Settlers’ Celebration.
Jaylene Smetana, acting president and secretary for Wakita Lions Club, is spearheading this year’s event, slated for Sept. 13 in downtown Wakita. (It is held the same weekend as Enid’s Cherokee Strip Days as Enid was settled during the same timeframe.)
The morning kicks off with the Lions Club pancake and sausage breakfast in the town gazebo at 8 a.m. Registration of attendees is open from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Lions Club building across the street. Activities for the day include box turtle races, Oklahoma Pedal Pullers Association’s pedal pull, arts and crafts, kids’ games, vintage bingo, cornhole, a cake walk, the parade at 4 p.m., and the barbecue fundraiser supper for Medford FFA Boosters at 5 p.m. The evening concludes with Enid singer-songwriter and Red Dirt musician Robert Allen starting at 6 p.m.
Whirling into history
Dovetailing into the Old Settlers’ Celebration this year is Twister the Movie Museum’s 30th anniversary. In 1995, “Twister” movie studio Warner Bros. urged the town to open the museum, saying visitors would flock to Wakita for a couple of years after the film came out in 1996, said Linda Wade, who curated and solely operates Twister the Movie Museum in downtown Wakita.
“We didn’t expect to be open 30 years later,” the 76-year-old said. But here it stands in the original film location office across the street from the old bank, not only for film fanatics, but as a beacon for storm chasers around the world.
“Storm chasing was new back then,” Wade said, in its infancy, so the Steven Spielberg film helped launch that group into world awareness. She added critics of “Twister” said “that it could never happen, then it did,” referring to Oklahoma’s deadliest tornado outbreak a few years later in May 1999, which killed 36 in the Oklahoma City metro and injured hundreds.
But according to National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration in Norman, the effort to modernize the National Weather Service paid off in this single event. Researchers estimate more than 600 lives were saved as a result of timely and accurate warnings and the public’s knowledge of tornado safety, partly of which can be attributed to the use of storm chasers.
Storm chasers regularly appear in town and frequently keep in touch with Wade.
“The storm chasers have adopted Wakita and want to share in the celebration,” she said, which is why they’ve started attending the Old Settlers’ Celebration.
Four years ago, several storm chasers decided to start hosting storm chaser seminars and a car show of movie replica vehicles in conjunction with the museum’s anniversary, which coincides with the Old Settlers’ Celebration.
Wade actually credits the Old Settlers’ Celebration for the museum’s existence.
Thirty years ago, she was president of the newly formed Wakita Garden Club. A dozen ladies in town came together to beautify Aunt Meg’s flower garden for the filming of “Twister” and to aid as Wakita’s de facto tourism bureau.
“I knew people (coming back for the Old Settlers’ Celebration) wanted to know what was happening in Wakita,” Wade said, so she and others from the garden club assembled the museum to show off Wakita’s role in what ultimately became a cult classic. WB donated “debris” from the movie set and Twister the Movie Museum was born as one of the first movie museums in the nation.
The late actor Bill Paxton, who was one of the main film stars as storm chaser-turned-TV weatherman Bill Harding, was a key supporter of the museum, Wade said, pointing out several personal items signed or donated by Paxton including his official Sega “Twister” pinball machine that still works.
This year’s 30th anniversary party is themed “We got cows,” so Wade has special ordered plenty of black and white cow-related items such as t-shirts, socks, and keychains. The museum, which technically closes for the season after today (Saturday, Aug. 30) and will be by appointment only until next April, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that Saturday during the Old Settlers’ Celebration.
Wakita’s lasting fame
Perhaps the most notable star of “Twister” is the Wakita water tower. After WB film crews took plenty of B-roll footage in anticipation of the film, Wakita has since starred in several TV shows and movies representing small town America, including the WB Superman prequel “Smallville.” Last fall, two storm chasers from Iowa wed using Wakita’s water tower as their wedding destination.
In May 2026, the movie “Twister” will celebrate its 30th anniversary. To that end, Twister the Movie Museum is planning to host a multi-day celebration that centers around Aunt Meg and the reason why the film’s storm chasers descended on Wakita again per the film quote: “It looks to hit Wakita head on.”
Kansas native Lois Smith, who is now 94, portrayed storm chaser (actress Helen Hunt) Jo Harding’s Aunt Meg who lived on the corner of Elm and Apache in Wakita. The house, of course, was destroyed for that infamous scene in which Meg has to be rescued after a tornado ripped through Wakita. The empty lot is marked with a pedestal as part of the Wakita walking tour which highlights spots in town where “Twister” was filmed.
Wade said not only will some of the original movie stars appear in Wakita for the May celebration, but the party will promote Aunt Meg-themed events and memorabilia such as her cookbook, coffee mugs, vintage tees, and more.
The event is sure to bring hundreds of more visitors to this tiny town along Oklahoma 11A.
Wade told the Enid News & Eagle last October the number of visitors has doubled since the standalone sequel “Twisters” hit theaters in the summer of 2024. She averaged at least 20 visitors a day this summer—which she said is about all she can handle anyway—up to a total of 80 on Saturdays.
The museum has a full-sized world map for people to pin where they journeyed from. Among the recent international visitors were storm chasers from Europe; since storm chasing is universal, Wade has seen tour groups from Germany and France that come to the United States to chase tornadoes and they make Wakita a stop on their trips.
“Every visitor has their own tornado story,” she said. Big city visitors are “blown away” by the museum, she added, because being a small-town museum allows her to be more hands-on and more personable.
“It appeals to all ages,” she said.
Twister the Movie Museum has evolved through the years. Wade has accumulated props with help from the movie studios and Oklahoma Film Commission as well as other storm chasing-related items over the past three decades pertaining to both the original movie and the sequel.
Among the significant draws:
- An original Dorothy weather data prototype with working lights and sounds—this is one of four made for the movie
- The trailer full of yellow barrels storm chaser Kate (actress Daisy Edgar-Jones) used to release super-absorbent polymer solution to potentially destabilize or dissipate tornadoes
- An actual panel from the Storm PAR scanner used to phase array radar tornadoes
Another popular experience is the hurricane simulator nicknamed “The Suck Zone”—after storm chaser (the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman) Dusty’s memorable line to Bill’s fiancé—for visitors to experience tornadic-like winds.
And most who stop in don’t leave before peering at merchandise in the upgraded gift shop, backed by Eskimo Joe’s Promotional Products Co. Fans can purchase “Twister” emblazoned memorabilia such as shirts, hats, and koozies as well as handcrafted Christmas tree ornaments designed by Wade and friends to mimic the whirly ball weather sensors dispatched by Dorothy in the film. In a partnership with NWOKBuzz.com, plenty of “Twisters” memorabilia is available too including tumblers, tornado-shaped keychains, magnets, and more.
There is no admission fee to enter Twister the Movie Museum, yet donations are what keep the museum going, Wade said. During the off-season (September to March), the museum is open by appointment only by calling (580) 594-2312. The museum will reopen again with regular hours from 1-5 p.m. beginning at the start of tornado season in April.
To learn more about Twister the Movie Museum, go online to twistermuseum.org. For details about “Twisters,” which was wholly filmed in Oklahoma, including three sites in Northwest Oklahoma, and the self-guided tour which includes Wakita, go online to nwokbuzz.com/nwokbuzz-twisters-tours.
New twist on the old cafe
Aside from the museum and the locally owned restaurant Twister Café, there’s not much left to see and do in Wakita, except when the Old Settlers’ Celebration rolls around.
The café was recently purchased by Texas native Billie Hubbard and her son Jerry Stowe. They re-opened Twister Café for business on July 20.
Hubbard said it has been a long-time dream to own a restaurant or a food truck, so when her then-roommate spotted the Twister-themed restaurant up for sale, they jumped on it. At the time she was living in Nebraska but staying with her twin sister in Montana, and her son resided in Texas with his wife and homeschooled daughter. They all converged on Wakita only a couple of days before they re-opened the local café.
Twister Café is only a month in under the new ownership and it’s slow going, but Hubbard hopes former patrons will return and new ones will check it out before or after touring Twister the Movie Museum.
She changed the café hours to be more accommodating to the museum and churches’ schedules, has been adding more items to the menu, and now accepts credit cards/debit cards that are tap-enabled or smartphone set up for Apple Pay instead of cash only.
“I enjoy visiting with the people,” Hubbard said. She cooks breakfast and makes the coffee crowd comfortable in the early morning while her son cooks lunch and supper.
The two hope they can make a difference in Wakita and help with the town’s tourism.
“We want to make it a better place,” Hubbard said with a smile.
Twister Café, 124 Main, Wakita, is open Monday through Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (402) 278-4579.