Tulsa

About Tulsa

Tulsa is the second largest city in Oklahoma, set along the Arkansas River in the green, rolling country of the state's northeast. It began as a Creek (Muscogee) settlement in the 1830s after the tribe's forced removal from Alabama, and its name comes from the Creek town of Tallasi. The discovery of oil at nearby Red Fork and Glenn Pool in the early 1900s made Tulsa the Oil Capital of the World, and the oil money of the 1920s built one of the finest collections of art deco architecture in the United States.

That same boom era also saw the prosperous Black community of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, destroyed in the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Today the Greenwood Rising history center tells that story and the district's resilience. Modern Tulsa has about 410,000 residents and a creative, revitalized downtown, with the Tulsa Arts District, the Blue Dome District and the Cain's Ballroom, where Bob Wills made western swing famous. Historic Route 66 runs through the city, lined with neon signs and classic motels.

Tulsa's star attraction is the Gathering Place, a riverside park that opened in 2018 with gardens, playgrounds, trails and a boathouse, consistently ranked among the best parks in the country. The Philbrook Museum of Art, set in an Italian villa with formal gardens, and the Gilcrease Museum, with one of the largest collections of art of the American West, make the city an art destination. The Woody Guthrie Center and Bob Dylan Center celebrate American music, and the Tulsa Zoo, the Oklahoma Aquarium in nearby Jenks and the art deco Boston Avenue Methodist Church round out a visit.