Sapulpa Historical Society

Max Meyer, the eccentric Sapulpa entrepreneur, lost his wife in the house fire that destroyed their home on January 4th, 1959.

For many years, businesses in the downtown district had contests for best window displays; and other years contests were held for home decorations. A tradition that many people can recall was the lighting of the Christmas tree or star on top of the Bartlett-Collins Glass Company tower. This tradition began this week in 1945.

When the Loraine Hotel perished in a fire, there was hope that an ever better hotel would arise out of its ashes. What actually happened?

In 1929, there was a subscription drive for the Sapulpa Democrat News that took the town (and others) by storm.

This week in Sapulpa history was preserved for football. Specifically Sapulpa football against their “old rivals,” Tulsa Central. Sapulpa High School’s blue-and-white Chieftains would often face-off against Tulsa Central High School’s crimson-and-cream Braves during Thanksgiving week.

On November 14, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union, and what followed was a years-long feud to decide who would become the seat of Creek County—Sapulpa or Bristow?

Read about the announcement and the excitement surrounding the construction of the Tee-Pee Drive-In!

The end of the war and the tumultuous post-war years brought new opportunities. Read the conclusion of the story of the Sapulpa and Interurban Trolley Line.

This story has it all—oil men, financiers, Indians, railroad speculators, big deals, burning creeks, bank failures, Machine Gun Kelly, G-Men, Zingo—and Route 66.

How did Sapulpa lose its Harvey House? Read what happened when Sapulpa lost the rail yard to Tulsa, and how the spirit of the Harvey House lived on after its demise.