McLain Rogers Park

McLain Rogers Park was built between 1934 and 1936 as one of dozens of Works Progress Administration park-construction projects across Oklahoma during the New Deal. The project provided employment for dozens of local workers across the construction period and produced a community amenity that the town's residents are still using ninety years later.

The park's name honors McLain Rogers, a Clinton civic leader of the early 20th century who advocated for the park's development and helped secure the WPA funding. Rogers was not related to the better-known Will Rogers.

The art deco entrance arch is the park's signature feature. The arch was restored in the 2000s with the cooperation of the City of Clinton, the Oklahoma Historical Society, and preservation funding from the National Park Service's Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The current nighttime lighting makes the arch one of the most striking pieces of public Route 66-era infrastructure visible after dark in western Oklahoma.

Every November through early January, McLain Rogers Park hosts the Clinton Christmas Light Display — hundreds of thousands of LED lights, dozens of large illuminated figures, animated displays, and themed sections. Hours are nightly from 6pm to 11pm. The display is genuinely free.

The McLain Rogers Park swimming pool — still in its original 1930s footprint with updated mechanical system — operates Memorial Day through Labor Day with standard public-pool admission. The kiddie amusement area is a small but genuinely operating set of mid-20th-century-style children's rides. A small mini-golf course operates on the park's southern edge during summer months.

The standard Clinton itinerary that incorporates McLain Rogers Park: morning at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, lunch at Jiggs Smoke House or White Dog Hill, afternoon at the Mohawk Lodge Indian Store, early-evening stop at McLain Rogers Park for the arch photography, dinner at Branding Iron Steakhouse.