The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Park Rangers are on-site daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Regularly scheduled Interpretive programs are available from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information, please call (405) 609-8855.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum is open 7 days a week. Hours are as follows: Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Ticket sales end one hour prior to closing each day.
The Oklahoma City bombing occurred when a truck packed with explosives was detonated on April 19, 1995, outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, leaving 168 people dead and hundreds more injured. The blast was set off by anti-government militant Timothy McVeigh, who in 2001 was executed for his crimes. His co-conspirator Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. Until September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist attack to take place on U.S. soil.
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a Ryder rental truck exploded with terrifying force in front of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
The powerful explosion blew off the building’s entire north wall. Emergency crews raced to Oklahoma from across the country, and when the rescue effort finally ended two weeks later, the death toll stood at 168 people.
The list of the deceased included 19 young children who were in the building’s day care center at the time of the blast. More than 650 other people were injured in the bombing, which damaged or destroyed over 300 buildings in the immediate area.
In May 1995, the Murrah Building was demolished for safety reasons, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum later opened at the site.