On July 25, 2000, Governor Keating announced plans to construct a dome on the Oklahoma State Capitol Building. Construction is slated to begin April 2001 with an estimated completion date of November 2002.
The world's first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City, on July 16,
1935. Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is generally credited with
originating the parking meter. He filed for a patent for a "coin controlled
parking meter" on May 13, 1935.
Vinita is the oldest incorporated town on Oklahoma Route 66 being established
in 1871. Vinita was the first town in Oklahoma to enjoy electricity. Originally
named Downingville. The towns name was later changed to Vinita, in honor of
Vinnie Ream, the sculptress who created the life-size statue of Lincoln at the
United States Capitol.
During a tornado in Ponca City, a man and his wife were carried aloft in their
house by a tornado. The walls and roof were blown away. But the floor remained
intact and eventually glided downward, setting the couple safely back on the
ground.
The Amateur Softball Association of America - a volunteer-driven,
not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, OK - was founded in 1933 and
has evolved into the strongest softball organization in the country.
A statue entitled "Hopes and Dreams," in downtown Perry was created by local
sculptor Bill Bennett and placed there on a massive granite pedestal as a
Cherokee Strip Centennial memorial. The statue portrays an early-day couple
coming to the newly opened western frontier.
Turner Falls Park in Davis is the oldest park in Oklahoma. Many springs from
the world famous Arbuckle Mountains form Honey Creek that cascades down a
seventy-seven foot fall to a natural swimming pool making the majestic Turner
Falls the largest waterfall in Oklahoma.
There is an operating oil well on state capitol grounds called Capitol Site
No. 1.
Anadarko is home to the only authentic Indian City in the United States. It is
located in the beautiful Washita river valley in southwest Oklahoma.
In 1998, a life size statue of a cattle drive, titled "On the Chisholm Trail,"
was set in place in Duncan as a monument to the American Cowboy.
Phillip H. Sheridan, George A. Custer and William T. Sherman were the founders
of the USA's main artillery fort at Fort Sill.
Born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation near what later would
become Oologah, Oklahoma, Will Rogers was first an Indian, a cowboy then a
national figure. Will Rogers was a star of Broadway and 71 movies of the 1920s
and 1930s, a popular broadcaster and wrote more than 4,000 syndicated newspaper
columns.
A life-size statue stands in honor of Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford in
Weatherford.
Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the United States to be bombed
during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m.,
a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base (50 miles to the south of Boise
City) dropped six practice bombs on the sleeping town.
Choctaw is the oldest chartered town in Oklahoma. Choctaw gained status as a
town in 1893.
Okmulgee owns the world record for largest pecan pie, pecan cookie, pecan
brownie, and biggest ice cream and cookie party. Each June, Okmulgee rolls out
the welcome mat to thousands of its closest friends as the annual Pecan Festival
comes to town.
The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City.
The town of Beaver claims to be the Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World. It
is here that the World Championship Cow Chip Throw is held each April.
An Oklahoman, Sylvan Goldman, invented the first shopping cart.
Known as the Antique Capital of Oklahoma, Jenks is home to the state's best
variety of: Antique Stores, Gift Shops, Galleries, Museums, Crafters Malls, and
Collectible Retailers.
The first capital of Oklahoma was in Guthrie, but was moved later to Oklahoma
City following a vote of the people.
Originally Indian Territory, the state of Oklahoma was opened to settlers in a
"Land Rush" in 1889. On a given date, prospective settlers would be allowed into
the territory to claim plots of land by grabbing the stakes marking each plot. A
few of these settlers entered to claim land before the official start of the
land run; these cheaters were called "Sooners".
Tahlequah, Oklahoma is the Tribal capital of the Cherokee Nation.
Located on the south shores of Grand Lake O' the Cherokees between Langley and
Disney. The Pensacola Dam was built in 1940 and is still the World's Longest
Multiple Arch Dam. Length of dam/spillway ... 6,565 feet. Length of
multiple-arch section ... 4,284 feet. Pensacola Dam was the first hydroelectric
facility in Oklahoma.
Bob Dunn a musician from Beggs invented the first electric guitar 1935.
Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma's only archaeological park, is a 140-acre site
encompassing 12 southern mounds that contain evidence of an Indian culture that
occupied the site from 850 A.D. to 1450 A.D. The Mounds are considered one of
the four most important prehistoric Indian sites east of the Rocky Mountains.
Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma.
WKY Radio was the first radio station transmitting from west of the
Mississippi River.
A Spanish Colonial Revival building serves as the backdrop for Ponca City's
Centennial Plaza, dedicated during the 100th anniversary celebration of the 1893
Land Run. The Plaza features the Centennial Monument by Jo Saylors, surrounded
by 7,000 named bricks, a statue of E.W. Marland, a War Memorial Fountain, Fire
Station No. 1 and City Hall.
State Motto: Labor Omnia Vincit {Labor Conquers All Things}
Belle Starr one of the most famous women outlaws is buried in an isolated
grave southwest of Porum, Oklahoma near the Eufuala Dam.
Originally the "Normal School," University of Central Oklahoma was Oklahoma's
first public school of higher education. It began as a teachers college, and is
now a premier institution of education in this region of the United States.
In Gurhrie nearly 20,000 lighters and "fire starters" are displayed at the
National Lighter Museum. The nation's only museum devoted to the collection of
lighters.
Oklahoma's four mountain ranges include the Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas and
the Kiamichis.
Foress B. Lillie was a participant in the land run of 1889, and set up a tent
for business as soon as shots were fired. Lillie's Drug was the first drug store
established in Guthrie. Lillie was issued the No. 1 license certificate when the
new state of Oklahoma registered him as a practicing pharmacist.
Oklahoma was the setting for the movie "Twister".
Oklahoma is bordered by six states: Texas to the south and west, Arkansas and
Missouri to the east, Kansas to the north and Colorado and New Mexico at the tip
of the northwestern Oklahoma panhandle.
Antlers bill itself as "The Deer Capital of the World and gateway to Southeast
Oklahoma."
On the evening of March 25, 1948, a tornado roared through Tinker Air Force
Base (AFB), Oklahoma, causing considerable damage, a few injuries, but no
fatalities. However, the destruction could have been much worse. A few hours
earlier Air Force Captain Robert C. Miller and Major Ernest J. Fawbush correctly
predicted that Atmospheric conditions were ripe for tornadoes in the vicinity of
Tinker AFB. This first tornado forecast was instrumental in advancing the
nation's commitment to protecting the American public and military resources
from the dangers caused by natural hazards.
The slogan "Buckle of the Wheat Belt" designates Kingfisher. Kingfisher was
the largest wheat market in America and is still perceived as such today.
Oklahoma is one of only two states whose capital cities name includes the
state name. The other is Indianapolis, Indiana.
Clinton Riggs designed the YIELD sign. It was first used on a trial basis in
Tulsa.
Oklahoma's state wildflower the Indian Blanket is red with yellow tips. It
symbolizes the state's scenic beauty as well as the its Indian heritage. The
wildflower blooms in June and July.
Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state, with over one million
surface acres of water.
On April 22, 1889, the first day homesteading was permitted, 50,000 people
swarmed into the area. Those who tried to beat the noon starting gun were called
Sooners. Hence the state's nickname.
Oklahoma's state bird the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher is a somewhat quiet bird
with beautiful plumage and a long sleek tail that is twice as long as its body.
The deeply-forked tail resembles a pair of scissors.
Oklahoma has the largest Native American population of any state in the U.S.
Many of the 250,000 American Indians living in Oklahoma are descended from the
67 tribes who inhabited the Indian Territory. Oklahoma is tribal headquarters
for 39 tribes.
Oklahoma City National Memorial honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and
all who were changed forever on the site of the bombing in Oklahoma City April
19, 1995.
Springs, streams and lakes are the attractions at Chickasaw National
Recreation Area, the first national park in the state of Oklahoma. Chickasaw
lies in a transition zone where the Eastern deciduous forest and the Western
prairies meet.
Sequoyah's Cabin in Akins is a frontier house of logs, occupied (1829-44) by
Sequoyah (George Gist), the teacher who in 1821 invented a syllabary that made
it possible to read and write the Cherokee language.