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Tulsa 1923 summer fun
What did Tulsans do 100 years ago to escape the summer heat? Some answers can be found in a little clipping I saved during some research on Tulsa's streetcars and electric interurban railroads.
Memorial Day weekend 1973: Saturday night in Tulsa
For fun, I decided to look up the local newspaper from 50 years ago this weekend. I was particularly curious to see what kind of live entertainment was on offer, and what people were watching on TV. (News clips below are from newspapers.com. Click the image to see the original...
Should conservatives celebrate OKC's big league status?
Why would any conservative celebrate regressive taxes to support billionaires who kow-tow to Chinese Communists and politically correct causes?
Tulsa's Gathering Place sues Shawnee coffeehouse
See the end of this post for an update with the lawsuit's resolution. Tulsa's Gathering Place, LLC, has filed a lawsuit in federal court against a family-owned coffeehouse in Shawnee, Oklahoma, 90 miles away. The trademark complaint, filed on Friday, September 24, 2021, in the Western District of Oklahoma, claims...
Crystal City Amusement Park
Crystal City Amusement Park was on Route 66 (Sapulpa Road, now Southwest Blvd) between 41st Street and 33rd West Avenue. The site is now occupied by the Crystal City Shopping Center (whose name was the nemesis of radio announcers). Crystal City was home to a roller coaster named Zingo,...
Blair Mansion/Crow Creek public input tonight, 2012/03/07
In recent years, a local foundation has purchased two significant properties along the east side of Tulsa's Riverside Drive: The Blair Mansion and grounds, just north of the Midland Valley trail, and two apartment complexes just south of 31st Street on either side of Crow Creek -- Sundance and Legacy...
Bell's coming back -- a little at a time
This is encouraging news: In a few weeks, as soon as PSO puts the necessary electrical hookups in place, the Bell family of Bell's Amusement Park will be operating a few of their kiddie rides at the Saturday Flea Market in west Tulsa. The rides will be open on Saturdays...
The 4th - mine and others'
The morning began with the patter of a steady drizzle on the roof as I snoozed in bed. It was a good soaking rain, much appreciated by my lawn. As tempting as it was to stay in bed listening to the rain, I decided to bestir myself and head out...
It's Miller's time -- to go
In this week's UTW, I review the record of Tulsa County District 2 Commissioner Randi Miller and endorse Sally Bell as her replacement. Since writing that piece, fired Expo Square CEO Rick Bjorklund has been pointing the finger at Miller regarding the decision to hold the Big Splash rent check....
The damage caused by "beautification"
Ron of Route 66 News evaluates one of Lady Bird Johnson's legacies: But the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which restricted billboards along our nation’s highways, proved to be damaging to Route 66 businesses when they were struggling to survive amid the continuing rise of the interstates. These Mother Road...
Bell's gets help
Over the weekend, I received an e-mail from the proprietor of Super Steve's Super Site, a Tulsa-based website devoted to amusement parks. He had some happy news about Bell's Amusement Park's progress toward clearing the fairgrounds location and getting their rides stored in hopes of reopening elsewhere. Tulsa Steel Services...
Something fishy at the Fairgrounds
This week in Urban Tulsa Weekly, I take a look back at the decision of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority last fall to evict Bell's Amusement Park from the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. Although it's not a new story, the way the eviction was handled sheds some light on the...
Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History
This is the originally submitted version of a story that was published on January 31, 2007 as the cover story of the February 1-7, 2007, edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly, under the headline "The River Review: Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History." The story as published can be found on...
Bell's notes
Current and former Okies and amusement park enthusiasts from other parts of the world have been weighing in on Tulsa County's refusal to renew a lease with Bell's Amusement Park. Dave the Oklahomilist posted a new entry yesterday, wondering about Expo Square CEO Rick Bjorklund's sudden decision to cut off...
New frontier (part 2)
As I said in the previous entry, this was our first ever visit to Oklahoma City's Frontier City theme park. It was just us guys, so we were going to ride as many rides as we wanted to, as often as we wanted to, without slowing down for anyone...
Glad I didn't find this until after the fair
If you're looking for an excuse to keep your kid off an amusement park ride: RideAccidents.com is the world's single most comprehensive, detailed, updated, accurate, and complete source of amusement ride accident reports and related news. The site includes a record of fatal amusement ride accidents in the United States...
Bell's to Jenks riverfront?
Robby Bell, third-generation owner of Bell's Amusement Park, was on KFAQ with Michael DelGiorno yesterday morning discussing the probable move of the 54-year-old park from the Tulsa County Fairgrounds to about fifty acres on the west bank of the Arkansas River in Jenks, just south of the Oklahoma Aquarium and...
River development meetings this week
The process of developing an Arkansas River Corridor Master Plan continues this week with three "workshops" -- tonight, Wednesday, and Thursday. Here are the details from the e-mail notice: The next series of public workshops has been set for Tuesday through Thursday, May 4 - 6th. The location of these...
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