Tulsa Area History
Tulsa County Communities
| Bixby | Broken Arrow | Collinsville | Glenpool | Jenks | Owasso |
| Sand Springs | Skiatook | Sperry | Southwest Tulsa & Red Fork | Tulsa |
Bixby
Located in the Creek Nation along the Arkansas River in south Tulsa County Oklahoma. Post office established July 6, 1899. Named for Tams Bixby, one of the three Commissioners of the Dawes Commission.
Books & Materials
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Broken Arrow
This largest suburb of Tulsa is located in the northeast section of Tulsa County. The name comes from a Creek community who established a new town site in a place where reeds for making arrow shafts grew plentifully. The town's Creek name, Rekackv (pronounced thlee-Kawtch-kuh), meaning broken arrow, was not "official" until the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway company built a railroad which ran through the area.
Books & Materials
- The Broken Arrow Chronicles
- Broken Arrow: City Of Roses And Pure Water
- Broken Arrow: The First Hundred Years
- Broken Arrow Vignettes: Brief Local Histories
- Establishment And Development Of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
- First Census (1904) of Broken Arrow
- Myriads Of The Past
- Tracking Through Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Community Resources
Government Agencies
- City of Broken Arrow
- Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce
- Broken Arrow Schools
- Broken Arrow Library
- South Broken Arrow Library
Collinsville
Sometime during 1897, settlers from all over began to gather forming a community due to the fertile prairie and huge coal beds beneath the earth. The new settlement, approximately a mile east of today's town site, was named after respected surveyor and engineer, Dr. A.H. Collins. He was persuaded to move his post office to the new town site from his allotment located two miles north by the folks' promise to name the town after him. The Collins Post Office was established on May 26, 1897; the name was changed to Collinsville on June 16, 1898.
Books & Materials
- Collinsville Historic Buildings, CD-ROM
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Glenpool
On November 22, 1905, wildcatters, Robert Galbreath and Frank Chesley (along with, by some accounts, Charles Colcord), drilling for oil on farmland owned by Creek Indian Ida E. Glenn, created the first oil gusher in what would soon be known as the "Glenn Pool". The discovery set off a boom of growth for the area, bringing in hordes of people: lease buyers, producers, millionaires, laborers, tool suppliers and news people. Daily production soon exceeded 120,000 barrels.
Books & Materials
- Glenn Pool: And A Little Oil Town Of Yesteryear
- The Glenn Pool Story: A Documentary , DVD
- Nearly Forgotten: The Amazing Story Of The Glenn Pool, Oklahoma's First World-Class Oil Field
- The Rush Begins: A History of the Red Fork, Cleveland and Glenn Pool Oil Fields by Kenny A. Franks
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Jenks
The town site of what would be Jenks was planned around two major railroads that were built between Tulsa and Muskogee in 1904. The prospect of steamboat travel along the Arkansas River lured early settlers slightly further east than the actual site of the two railroads. The new town took its name from a director of one of the railroads who lived in Philadelphia.
The discovery of oil in nearby Glenpool in 1905 spurred development in Jenks. In 1906, oil tank farms were constructed near Jenks to store oil. The expensive tank farms increased the area property valuation and contributed considerable revenue to the Jenks school district.
Books & Materials
- Main Street Memories: Reflections Of Main Street, Jenks From 1900-2005
- Tune Of The Hickory Stick: 75 Years In The Jenks Public Schools
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Owasso
Owasso is an Osage Tribe word meaning "end of the trail" or "turn around," which around 1900, was the location where the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad ended. In 1904, Owasso became a town under the laws of Indian Territory, and eventually became chartered as a city on September 28, 1972.
Books & Materials
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Sand Springs
In 1907, entrepreneur and oilman, Charles Page, sent Salvation Army worker, Brinton F. Breeding and a group of orphaned children and widows to his land west of Tulsa to begin a children's home and widow's colony. Building what some called a "folly," Page developed Oklahoma's only planned industrial town around his children's and widow's home. Singer and Claremore native, Patti Page, took her stage name from Charles Page and the Page Dairy Co.
Books & Materials
- A Fool's Enterprise: The Life Of Charles Page
- The Home Kids: Short Stories from Former Sand Springs Home Children
- Sand Springs, Oklahoma: A Community History
- Sand Springs, Oklahoma: Consolidated Name And Subject Indexes To Major Genealogical And Historical Sources
Community Resources
Government Agencies
- City of Sand Springs
- Sand Springs Chamber of Commerce
- Sand Springs Schools
- Charles Page Library
- Pratt Library
Skiatook
Historical records have conflicting data as to the origin of Skiatook's name. One story is that the town was founded on land which was the home of a prominent Osage Indian, Skiatooka, and the community around his home was called Skiatooka's Settlement. Another story is that the name was Cherokee in origin meaning either "big injun me" or describing a large man or a vast tract of land. It is generally accepted that Cherokee Chief William C. Rogers founded Skiatook when he established a trading post in the Cherokee Nation just to the south of Bird Creek where the stream was easily crossed. The Osage Indian, Skiatooka, was frequent trader at the post, so it has been suggested this may be the connection which resulted in the town's name.
Books & Materials
- A history of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Skiatook, Oklahoma, 1907-1987
- Historical review : Bird Creek basin from 1800
- Skiatook: 1872-1999: Preserving The History Of Our Past For The Families Of The Future
- Skiatook, 1872 to 1921
Community Resources
Government Agencies
Sperry
Located in north Tulsa County. A post office was established in May 17, 1902. In 1907 the post office was moved to Buehler which was known thereafter as Sperry. Sperry is an English adaptation of Henry Spybuck's name. Little is known of Henry Spybuck, but library research has discovered that he was a Shawnee who was given a Cherokee land allotment near the town of Sperry.
Books & Materials
- What Sperry Looked Like In 1947 , videorecording
Government Agencies
Southwest Tulsa & Red Fork
Like previous oil strikes in present-day Oklahoma, the Red Fork discovery was plagued by federal controls over drilling on Indian land and a dearth of readily available markets. While these drawbacks hindered continued development at Red Fork, the Sue A. Bland #1 turned the attention of many oilmen away from Texas and northward to Oklahoma and Indian territories.
Books & Materials
- Early History Of Southwest Tulsa
- The rush begins : a history of the Red Fork, Cleveland and Glenn Pool oil fields
- Tulsa County News
Community Resources
- A History of Red Fork
- Red Fork Main Street News
- SouthWest Tulsa Historical Society
- Welcome to Southwest Tulsa
- Zarrow Regional Library
Tulsa
The city of Tulsa's roots date back to 1836 when Archee Yahola, Chief of the Creek Nation, picked a site underneath a large oak tree near the banks of the Arkansas River for councils and meetings. In 1879, Tulsa existed on the pony mail route through Indian Territory. Tulsa was incorporated as a city on January 18, 1898.
The name " Tulsa" (originally spelled Tulsey or Tulsee) is a shortened pronunciation of Tallasi, which is almost certainly a contraction of Tullahassee or Tallahassee, meaning "Old Town"("Tulwa," meaning town, and "ahassee," meaning something old) in the Creek language. The name was apparently transferred from Alabama when the Creek Indians were forced to move here. Adolphus DeLorraine Orcutt (1846-1913), an early Territory rancher and cattleman, and member of Oklahoma's first legislature, evidently suggested the name be used.
Books & Materials
- Subject Search of the Library Catalog on the history of Tulsa materials.
- Subject Search of the Library Catalog on the history of African-Americans in Tulsa.
- Subject Searchof the Library Catalog on the social life and customs of Tulsa.
Community Resources
Government Agencies