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Showing results for tags 'north east'.
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Tulsa, Oklahoma was incorporated on January 18, 1898. However, the area was settled by Creek Indians between 1828 and 1836. The settlement was located at what is now the intersection of S Cheyenne Ave and W 18th Street under the Council Oak Tree, which is a Post Oak and is now a city park. This location was selected by Chief Tukabahchi and fellow Trail of Tears survivors because it closely resembled their home lands of Alabama. Originally the settlement was named Tallasi, Meaning Old Town in Creek, and later became Tulsa. Modern day Tulsa resides predominantly in Creek Nation territory but also extends into Cherokee and Osage lands. The largest reservation in Oklahoma, the Osage Reservation, marks the northwest boundaries of Tulsa county and subsequently the northwest boundaries of the Tulsa city limits. In 1901 oil was discovered on the western banks of the Arkansas River in Red Fork, Oklahoma which would later be annexed by Tulsa because of this discovery. The original well site was named Sue Bland #1. While it is no longer visible several members of the community have come together to create the Route 66 Village which is located east of the original site on Historic Route 66, locally named Southwest Boulevard. The Route 66 Village is an open air museum that includes a fully restored Frisco 4500 Steam Engine and tender, an oil car, passenger car, caboose, oil derrick, and they mostly recently completed construction on a 1930's Phillips Oil Company fueling station which will serve as the visitor center in months to come. By 1905 oil was also discovered in Glenn's Pool 15 miles south of Tulsa and is the current day town of Glenpool, Oklahoma. This officially kicked off the oil boom in northeastern Oklahoma which garnered Tulsa the nickname "Oil Capitol Of The World" this title would be held until the 1980's but more on that later. During the next 20 years Tulsa's population would skyrocket to over 72,000 individuals comprised mostly of mid-western and east coast business men vying for their fortunes in black gold. With the wealth that moved in, and was also created in the oil fields, a construction boom grew almost over-night and funded the construction of downtown Tulsa's dense collection of Art Deco architecture which is now the largest in the world. During the 1910's and 20's oil barons found a new way to compete with their vast fortunes and began to build the tallest towers the fastest to show their superiority. From this competition we now have some of the most notable pieces of the Tulsa Skyline including; the Philtower, the First National Bank of Tulsa building, Cosden building (later to become the Mid-Continent Tower during the 1980's), Boston Avenue Methodist Church, and the Mayo Hotel building to name a few. The map below is the original layout of Tulsa during the 1920's: As time would crank on into the 20th century oil would prove to not only be the building block of the city and the creation of riches beyond imagine but also a life line during economic catastrophe. On October 29,1929 the whole of a nation woke up to a banking system crumbling and life savings vanishing into thin air, Black Tuesday would prove that not all that glitters is gold but what provides for a family is hard work and hard work was found in the oil fields of Tulsa. Because of this the city and it's citizens fared better then most and another migration to Tulsa began, this time doubling the population to over 140,000 by 1940. The 1920's would also bring the darkest part of Tulsa's history; May 31, 1921. This day would mark the worst race riot in U.S. history which lead to the total destruction of the most prosperous community of African Americans in the country known as "Black Wall Street". During a 16 hour riot in the streets of the Greenwood District at least 300 citizens were killed, 800 injured, and over 10,000 were left homeless. 35 city blocks were burned to the ground and over $1.8 million in damages were done. Retribution claims were left unsuccessful for survivors and for the rest of the 20th century the event was left mostly swept under the rug. Since the turn of the century though, the city has played a fair role on bringing the events of this day to light and the Greenwood community has created the Greenwood Cultural Center which is a living museum which focuses on the race riot. The current mayor, G.T. Bynum, has also taken an interest since his days as a city counselor to learn the full extent of casualties and is currently working on locating the unmarked grave sites left in the wake of the disaster to help bring closure to family stories that were left unwritten. Through this decade of divisions however, one man was building a unifying force, the great "Mother Road" Route 66. in 1925, Cyrus Avery was a local business man who sought to create a highway that would connect Los Angeles to Chicago and would bring that road directly through Tulsa. Today Route 66 runs from Sapulpa in the southwest to Catoosa running along Southwest Boulevard and S 11th Street. The original Route 66 bridge still stands across the Arkansas River, although it is no longer used for any form of traffic, but was replaced by the current bridge in the 1980's. when the original 11th street bridge was constructed in 1916 it was the largest reinforced concrete bridge west of the Mississippi River and was the determining factor for bringing Route 66 through Tulsa. In 1936 the bridge was widened to four lanes and marked the completion of Route 66 through Tulsa. Below is an image of the 11th Street bridge: And this concludes the first Chapter of Tulsa's history up to 1940.
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Has anyone considered making a Wawa, which is a gas station based in the northeast?
