Bartlesville Off The Beaten Path

This historic gem is situated in Montgomery County just over the Kansas border about an hour away. Filled with turn-of-the-century wonders and a better historic district than Bartlesville's by far, one can return to the Old West, see the sight of one of history's most famous but bungled robberies, and learn about the rugged frontier in the fledgling Midwest.

If for some strange reason you've passed through Bartlesville, you might as well take a few extra minutes to fly through Dewey. Of the half-dozen or so county listings on the National Register of Historic Places, Dewey boasts only its ancient hotel (all the rest are exclusively in Bartlesville). Donations are appreciated in this 1899 three-story boarding house where every room is dressed up in frontier lifestyles.

Set off a few blocks from the historic and present centers of commerce lies Johnstone Park, an oasis with a wide variety of attractions. Apart from its spacious walks and places where children can play, and apart from its wooded setting against Caney Creek, the park promotes Bartlesville's historic past and association with oil by presenting a firefighting cannon, an old locomotive, an old fire pump, the first commercial well in Oklahoma and other interesting relics.