The history of the Broken Bow Area Chamber of Commerce dates back to April 5, 1955, when the organization then operating as the Broken Bow Business Owners Association voted to adopt the name Chamber of Commerce and began collecting membership dues on a voluntary basis. From its earliest days, the Chamber was focused on bringing local business owners together and working to improve the community.
In 1955, Chamber meetings were held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. By 1957, the Chamber had established committees dedicated to Membership and Attendance, Retail Merchants, Civic Improvement, Highways, Water and Resources, Tourism, Agriculture, and Industrial Development, many of the same areas of community and economic development that remain important to the Chamber today.
The Chamber quickly became involved in projects that helped shape Broken Bow. In August 1956, the city council met with the Chamber to discuss plans for a test of water well and improvements to the city’s water and sewage systems. The Chamber agreed to help fund a portion of the test well, demonstrating the organization’s early commitment to supporting community infrastructure and growth. That same year, a membership drive led by Riley Moore, Leon Haley, Lynn Hatch, and B.N. Daniels collected $146 in membership dues.
A particularly important chapter in the Chamber’s history began in the summer of 1969, when an old fireworks stand was opened to serve as a temporary Chamber information booth. Pat Peavy was hired to operate the booth. With just two lawn chairs, an ice chest, and brochures to hand out, Pat spent three months welcoming visitors and promoting Broken Bow, taking Mondays and Tuesdays off. In August of that year, she also began keeping the Chamber’s books.
Pat would go on to become one of the most important figures in the Chamber’s history. The first official Chamber office was located on Main Street in what was then the State Farm Insurance office next to the old Dell Hotel. Pat was given a desk and worked there for two years. The office later moved to the old City Hall building, where the Chamber also added Western Union services.
Pat Peavy continued serving the Chamber for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1999. Her dedication helped guide the organization through decades of growth and change and left a lasting impact on the Chamber and the Broken Bow community. Other directors who served for a short time were Amy Allen and Sarah Noel. In 2003, the chamber hired Charity O’Donnell as director and tasked her with building up tourism. A local lodging tax had recently been passed, and they needed someone to form that organization and run it along with the chamber. The Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce had always been primarily tourism driven since the building of Broken Bow Lake so everyone agreed that the chamber and tourism authority would be ran out of the same office.
In 1976, the Chamber moved into the historic railroad depot that continues to serve as its home today. The Chamber signed a 99-year lease with Weyerhaeuser for just $1.00. Built in 1911, the depot is the only original commercial building in Broken Bow that is still standing today, making it a significant part of both the Chamber’s history and the community’s history. The chamber shared the building with the railroad for many years. Then in 2011, Weyerhaeuser Company deeded the building to the Broken Bow Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2017 the City of Broken Bow moved engine 227 back over to the chamber property where it currently sits.
Today, the Broken Bow Area Chamber of Commerce continues the work begun by those early business owners in 1955. While Broken Bow has grown tremendously and the local economy has evolved, the Chamber’s purpose remains much the same: to support local businesses, promote economic development, encourage tourism, and work together to make the Broken Bow area a better place to live, work, visit, and do business.
From an organization meeting twice a month in 1955, to a small fireworks stand with two lawn chairs in 1969, to the historic 1911 depot that serves as the Chamber’s home today, the story of the Broken Bow Area Chamber of Commerce is ultimately a story of community, partnership, and more than 70 years of commitment to Broken Bow and McCurtain County.