page_title: Durant, Oklahoma
section_title: Arts and culture
hierarchical_section_title: Durant, Oklahoma / Arts and culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Dedicated to the peanut industry in Durant OK. (1975)
context_page_description: Durant is a city in Bryan County, Oklahoma, United States and serves as the capital city and headquarters of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The population was 15,856 at the 2010 census. Durant is the principal city of the Durant Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 42,416 in 2010. Durant ranks as the second largest city within the Choctaw Nation, following McAlester, and ahead of Poteau. Durant is also part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Combined Statistical Area, anchoring the northern edge.
  The city was founded by Dixon Durant, a Choctaw who lived in the area, after the MK&T railroad came through the Indian Territory in the early 1870s. It became the county seat of Bryan County in 1907 after Oklahoma statehood.
  Durant is home to Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the headquarters of the Choctaw Nation. The city is officially known as the Magnolia Capital of Oklahoma. The city and its micropolitan are a major part of the Texoma region.
context_section_description: Durant is home to the annual Magnolia Festival and the Three Valley Museum. The festival is put on by the Durant Chamber of Commerce and Durant Main Street Program the weekend following Memorial Day. It features music, shopping, shows, and two pageants – the Magnolia Pageant and the Choctaw Princess Pageant.
  The Oklahoma Legislature proclaimed Durant as the "Magnolia Capital of the World" in 1993. Every year since, the town has celebrated a Magnolia Festival during the weekend following Memorial Day.
  Durant has a "World's Largest Peanut" monument, a title it shares with two other monuments in Texas and Ashburn, Georgia. This monument to the peanut growers in Bryan County is located on the front lawn of Durant's city hall. Dedicated in 1973, it includes a time capsule that contains historic and legal documents, which will be unearthed in the year 2023.
  The Three Valley Museum houses historical artifacts of Bryan County. Opened in 1976, it is named for a book about Durant, Queen of the Three Valleys by Henry McCreary, which references the city's location in the middle of the Red, Blue River, and Washita River valleys. The museum's exhibits include an early law office, doctor's office, child's room, parlor, and general store.
  The Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival is housed on the campus of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival is one of the top summer theatre festivals in America. It has made Durant and Southeastern Oklahoma State University a destination for tourists, professional and aspiring actors and theatre artisans.
caption: The large peanut in Durant
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