USA Guide
The Great Plains
Oklahoma City National Memorial
At 620 N Harvey Ave, where the Federal Building stood until the 1995 bombing, visitors mill somberly about the Oklahoma City National Memorial (open 24hr; free). The site, which dominates the center of the city, includes a field of 168 empty bronze and glass chairs, and a black reflecting pool flanked by two massive gold barriers marking 9.01–9.03am – the period of destruction. Nearby, an elm tree that continued to bloom after the blast stands as a lone sentinel. The Memorial Museum behind it (Mon– Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 1–6pm; $10) is also worth a visit, recounting the tragedy in gruesome detail, with TV news coverage from the day, interviews with survivors, and items pulled from the wreckage, such as shredded clothing, cracked coffee mugs, and twisted filing cabinets. Other sections describe the ensuing FBI investigation and McVeigh trial, and on the ground floor are tributes to the victims. Outside, the complex is surrounded by a chain-link fence weighed down by tokens and talismans left by mourners.