Editing Park Hill, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Park Hill was a pre-established hamlet that became the home for many of the Cherokee after coming from the East on the "[[Trail of Tears]]". In 1829 the Park Hill Mission was established.<ref name="place_names"/> The mission had one of the earliest presses in Oklahoma, the Park Hill Mission Press. The first post office was established at Park Hill on May 18, 1838.<ref name="place_names">
{{cite book
  | last = Shirk
  | first = George
  | title = Oklahoma Place Names
  | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
  | year = 1987
  | location = Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
  | pages = 288
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KpAmsIFdutAC
  | isbn = 9780806120287}}
</ref> It was in Park Hill that Chief John Ross made his home in 1839,<ref name = "ghost_towns">{{cite book
  | last = Morris
  | first = John
  | title = Ghost Towns of Oklahoma
  | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
  | year = 1977
  | location = Norman, Oklahoma
  | pages = 229
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fSqmnpHFEF0C
  | isbn = 9780806114200}}
</ref> as well as his nephew-in-law George Murrell, whose home still stands.<ref name= "ghost_towns"/> On May 6, 1847, the post office was moved to Tahlequah.<ref name="place_names"/> The [[First Cherokee Female Seminary Site|Cherokee Female Seminary]] was built here in 1849.<ref name= "ghost_towns"/>

Park Hill was the center of culture for the Cherokees for many years,<ref name="place_names"/> and as such in 1940 [[the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America]] in Oklahoma erected a marker at Park Hill declaring it the "Center of Cherokee culture".

The post office at Park Hill was re-established April 22, 1892.<ref name="place_names"/>

In and around Park Hill are several important sites listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], including the [[Murrell Home]], the Park Hill Mission Cemetery (also known as the Worcester cemetery),<ref name="NPS-PHMC">[{{NRHP url|id=06001113|title=United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. "Park Hill Mission Cemetery - National Register of Historic Places Registration Form." December 6, 2006.] Accessed March 4, 2016}}</ref> the [[Ross Cemetery]], and the [[First Cherokee Female Seminary Site|original Cherokee Female Seminary]]. The [[Cherokee Heritage Center]] in Park Hill, was built on the former grounds of the Female Seminary. The [[Stomp Dance#Dance grounds|Echota Ceremonial Ground]] has been located in Park Hill since 2001, on the north side of town.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Echota Ceremonial Ground has long history in area|url = http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/index/8846|website = [[Cherokee Phoenix]]|access-date = 2015-09-27|last = Chavez|first = Will|language = en, chr |date = 2015-01-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Stomp dance raises money for Cherokee family|url = http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/index/8933|website = [[Cherokee Phoenix]]|access-date = 2015-09-27|last = Murphy|first = Jami|date = 2015-02-17|language = en, chr}}</ref>

Park Hill Mission, which antedated the community, was founded in 1829. The first person buried in Park Hill Mission Cemetery was [[Elias Boudinot]], founder of the ''Cherokee Phoenix'' newspaper, who was assassinated in Park Hill on June 23, 1839. Samuel Worcester and his two wives were also interred here. The last burial in this cemetery was a Worcester daughter, Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson. in 1905.  This cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 2006.<ref name="NPS-PHMC"/>