I’ve lived in and around the city of Tulsa for most of my adult life. It’s a city that’s replete in history. I immersed myself in researching that history as I authored the four novels in my Tulsa series. It’s an interesting city with many pros and cons about living here. Below are a few facts you may not have known.
1. Bob Wills and his group, the Texas Playboys, began performing at Cain’s Ballroom in 1935. The group is largely credited for the creation of Western swing music. Cain’s ballroom is still operational today.
2. Many places claim to be the birthplace of Route 66, but Tulsa wins it. Tulsa businessman, Cyrus Avery, campaigned in 1927 to create a road linking Chicago to California by establishing the U.S. Highway 66 Association in Tulsa.
3. Since 1953, the Tulsa Spotlight Club has used an historic building to present an adaptation of the 19th-century temperance 
melodrama The Drunkard. Originally known as the Riverside Studio, the building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
4. The BOK Tower is the 2nd tallest building in all of Oklahoma—and the surrounding states of Missouri, New Mexico, Arkansas and Kansas.
5. S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton, was born in Tulsa and graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1966. At age 17, her novel, The Outsiders was published. The 1983 the film based on that novel was actually shot on-site in Tulsa.
6. In the 1950s, Tulsa was named America’s Most Beautiful City by Time magazine.
7. Tulsa was originally part of Indian Territory settled by the Lochapoka and Creek tribes in the 1800s. They named their settlement “Tallasi,” which means “old town,” and later turned into “Tulsa.”
8. Garth Brooks might have friends in low places, but not in Tulsa, where he was born on February 7, 1962. January, 2015, he played to sold-out crowds in the Tulsa BOK Center six nights in a row.
9. The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art features remnants of the Holocaust and Judaism artifacts and is the largest preserved collection of Judaica in the Southwest U.S.
10. Tulsa boasts one of the nation’s most extensive collections of Art Deco architecture. In 2001, the city hosted the World Congress on Art Deco.
11. BONUS. The bonus Tulsa fact is nothing to brag about for the city. It has to do with the infamous Tulsa Race Riot which occurred in 1921. You can learn more about this tragic event by reading the Tulsa Series that I authored – all four titles are available for Kindle and Nook readers.
This barely touches the tip of the iceberg regarding information about this amazing city. Come for a visit and you’ll see what I mean!
If you’ve lived in Tulsa, or ever visited here, leave a comment below. What do you think about this city? Love it? Hate it? Homesick for it? I’d love to hear from you.