OKLAHOMA LEGENDS

Sapulpa - Crossroads of America

Vintage Sapulpa, Oklahoma postcard

Some 15 miles beyond Tulsa, you will arrive at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, a city proud of its Route 66 and Native American heritage. Five countries have flown their flag over this area over the centuries - Spain, France, England, Mexico, and the United States of America. During the Civil War, the Choctaw Indian Nation flew its flag over the territory also. Sapulpa's history is rich in Indian and early American folklore.

Sapulpa got its start in 1850 when Jim Sapulpa, a Creek Indian, came to the area from Alabama. Establishing a farm on Rock Creek, about one mile southeast of the present city, he soon operated a store in his home, hauling supplies from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Before long the city became an important cattle-shipping center and a Fred Harvey Hotel operated at the railroad station. In 1889 a post office was opened and the town was incorporated in 1898.

Although oil had been found at Chelsea in 1889, Muskogee and Bartlesville in 1897, and Red Fork in 1901, the territory was not recognized as a great oil reserve until the opening of the Glenpool Field, four miles southeast of Sapulpa, in November, 1905. This oil boom fostered Sapulpa's greatest period of growth.

The oil boom, the Frisco Railroad, and the addition of several brick and glass plants combined to transform Sapulpa from a sleepy little village into a bustling community of 20,000 by the mid-1920s. Most of the buildings in downtown Sapulpa were erected during this boom period.

Sapulpa has long been known as "The Crossroads of America," sitting at the intersection of U.S. Highway 66 and U.S. Highway 75. In the days before interstate highways were constructed, Route 66 was the main east/west highway of the western United States and U.S. 75 was the main north/south highway, running from Canada to the Gulf Coast at Galveston, Texas. Today, the city is still a major crossroad as five major highways converge in the town.

While visiting this Main Street City, be sure to make a see the Waite Phillips Filling Station Museum. Built in 1922 by Waite Phillips, the building has been restored by the Sapulpa Historical Society and houses automobiles from the 1920s. It is located one block off historic Route 66 at 26 E. Lee Avenue. For more history, visit the Sapulpa Historical Museum, situated in an old 1910 hotel, which features exhibits dioramas of the early-day Frisco Railroad and 1894 Sapulpa town site, a 100-year pictorial history of Sapulpa, Native American and African-American photo histories, and much more. The museum is located at 100 E Lee Avenue.

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

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