Historic structure
Stabilize and repair the surviving house while respecting the layers left by generations of family use.
GOODWATER, OKLAHOMA • BUILT 1893 • PRESERVATION IN PROGRESS
Help save the Whiteman Family Home.
More than 130 years of family history still stands in Goodwater. We are raising $125,000 to preserve the house and carry its story into the next century.
1893Family home established
$125,000Preservation goal
May 2027Fundraising deadline
THE HOUSE THAT STAYED
A family story still connected to its place.
The house stood before Oklahoma became a state. Generations were born here, lived here, left, and returned.
William Jourdan Whiteman settled at Goodwater in 1893. He became Goodwater's first postmaster and built a life spanning agriculture, business and the transformation from Indian Territory to Oklahoma. Mattie Josephine Harris Whiteman connected the home to a Choctaw family whose history reaches through Pleasant Hill and the political life of the Choctaw Nation.
This website tells enough of that history to explain why the place matters. The complete story is now available in The House at Goodwater, whose proceeds are also intended to support preservation.
LIVE GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN
Help preserve the house.
The official GoFundMe widget below is the live source for the amount raised and current campaign progress.
Donations are processed by GoFundMe. SaveTheWhitemanHome.com does not collect your payment-card information.
THEN AND NOW
The photographs carry the story.
WHAT YOUR SUPPORT HELPS PROTECT
A lived-in house, not a museum piece.
Original fabric
Document and preserve surviving framing, siding, interior wood, chimney brick and other early material.
The interior well
Protect and document one of the home's most unusual surviving historic features.
The family archive
Preserve photographs, records, artifacts and the stories that explain why the building matters.
GENERATIONS OF THE HOUSE
They left, but they came home.
HISTORY WITHOUT GIVING AWAY THE BOOK
Explore the people, place and surviving evidence.
Before Oklahoma statehood
Explore the community where the Whiteman story took root during the Indian Territory era.
Read the history →Two histories meet
A concise introduction to W. J. Whiteman and Mattie Josephine Harris without publishing the book online.
Meet Mattie →What survives
See the historic photographs, current condition and evidence preserved in the building itself.
Explore the house →OBJECTS & EVIDENCE
History you can still see.
Rock Island Plow sign
An original metal sign bearing W. J. Whiteman's name survives in the family collection.
Examine the artifact →The indoor well
An unusual surviving feature may help explain how the early Goodwater household functioned.
Explore the well →First county grand jury
An authentic historic photograph places W. J. Whiteman with McCurtain County's first grand jury.
See the story →WHY DONORS CAN VERIFY THIS PROJECT
A real house. A documented history. A specific preservation goal.
The place
The house remains at Goodwater and is documented through historic and current photographs.
The evidence
The site separates archival evidence, public records and family history rather than treating them as interchangeable.
The campaign
The family is raising $125,000 by May 2027 through the official GoFundMe campaign.
DISCOVER THE PLACE AROUND THE HOUSE
Explore McCurtain County history
The Whiteman Home belongs to a much larger story: Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Goodwater, early county government, historic homes and families whose histories cross the 1907 statehood line.
BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
The House at Goodwater
The full biography and deeper historical record are now available in book form while the website keeps the campaign focused and readable.
Book proceeds are planned as another way to support preservation of the Whiteman Home.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
This history is still standing.
Help carry the 1893 Whiteman Family Home into its next century.
Donate Through GoFundMe