Tulsa Favorites

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Favorite thing: The Tulsa Garden Center is located in historic Woodward Park at 25th and Peoria. The main building is a former Italian renaissance villa that was designed by noted Tulsa architect Nobel B. Flemming. The mansion was built with 21 rooms and 10 bathrooms. Construction was begun in 1919 and was completed in 1921. It has a long and interesting history. The Tulsa Rose Garden is located north of the former villa.

Favorite thing: Both of my parents went to this school. Paul Harvey (real name Paul Harvey Aurandt) of radio fame was in my father's class. Eddie Sutton, a famous basketball coach, was the coach there when I was in high school. It is no longer a school. Public Service Company owns it.

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Favorite thing: This English Tudor style manor house was built in 1926 and overlooks the Arkansas River near 21st Street and Riverside Drive. The home's interior has imported marble, hand-carved wood paneling, original oil paintings and other art works. The Harwells' left the mansion to the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa and it provides space for a wide variety of community events.

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Favorite thing: The former Warehouse Market is located at 10th and Elgin. It was built in 1929 in art deco style. I remember going there as a small boy right after World War II. We lived further east on 11th Street (10th merges with 11th there), which was also Highway 66. I seem to remember getting ice cream cones and that the ice cream was made there. I heard that someone wanted to tear it down recently but that the historical society helped save it.

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Favorite thing: I had not been to downtown Tulsa in a long time. After finishing a reunion activity, I walked around a bit. I never realized there were so many churches downtown. Maybe urban renewal has removed some old buildings and they are just more evident now.

Favorite thing: Part of Tulsa's great diversity and cosmopolitan flare are reflected in its wide range of downtown buildings. The architect and the architecture aficionados will have plenty to admire through an easy stroll downtown. While most will best remember the stone and marble of its famous historic buildings, and bemoan the afflictions of its two old grand hotels of surviving brick, the newest additions to the Tulsa skyline are just as eye-catching and impressive.

Favorite thing: The Jenks (a suburb of Tulsa) aquarium, actually named "The Oklahoma Aquarium", is the most interesting thing happening in Tulsa right now. It is only a few years old and growing fast! I've heard many aquarium fans refer to it as one of the best new aquariums in the US and it's only growing.

Fondest memory: Tulsa is a beautiful town, situated on the Arkansas River and surrounded by beautiful green, tree-covered hills that turn brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange during the fall.

Favorite thing: River Parks and its trails are one of the best things about Tulsa and adjacent communities. And the network is growing.
It's possible to ride, walk, jog many miles, from near Bixby in southeast Tulsa to Sand Springs northwest of Tulsa, along the Creek Turnkpike, River Parks and Sand Springs trails which all connect. There are other trails elsewhere, and more are being built as funds become available.
The trails have restrooms, water fountains, fields for soccer, rugby, parcourse, disc golf and other sports, as well as picnic facilities. There is also a skate park, a school for trapeze, a sidewalk bar and cafe (warmer months only) to be enjoyed by the trail users.
Several miles of the trail runs along the shores of the Arkansas River, a major river which drains parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, Missouri, as well as Oklahoma. There is a bicycle-pedestrian bridge that links trails on both sides of the river.
There are bicycle/pedestrian bridges across the Arkansas River.