Oklahoma Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Oklahoma trivia? Try our list Oklahoma little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

John and Virginia Kessel of Peoria (pop. 141) wanted to provide safe and affordable entertainment for area residents, so they cleared five acres of trees and brush and opened the Dixieland Drive-in Theater last summer. For $8 a carload, moviegoers can watch a second-run movie either from their car or on blankets and lawn chairs.

Field's Pecan Pies originated in 1925 in Pauls Valley (pop. 6,256) when brothers Lee and Julian Field persuaded their wives to bake pastries for their restaurant customers. Today, the famous pecan pies and other goodies are distributed throughout the state and beyond.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

The U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum at Fort Sill in Lawton (pop. 92,757) tells the story of field artillery from the Revolutionary War to the present, including the Mule Gun, a 19th-century experiment in animal artillery in which a gun was strapped to the back of a mule to fire. The idea was disregarded after the mule started bucking, causing the gun to fire.

Wanda Jackson, hailed as the "Queen of Rockabilly," was born in 1937 in Maud (pop. 1,136). She performed country, rock 'n' roll and gospel music, including the hit singles "Let's Have a Party" and "Right or Wrong," and "In the Middle of a Heartache," which became a country Top 10. Still performing at age 71, Jackson is a 2009 inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

Pauls Valley (pop. 6,256) prides itself on having 17,986 square yards of original brick paving. Residents celebrate Brick Fest, which includes a brick toss competition, each May.

Lydia Uhrig of Stillwater (pop. 39,065) won't have any trouble remembering to the second when her son Denis was born. He was born on 12:34:56 on 07/08/09 (That's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

first appeared: 10/4/2009

The first U.S. woman elected to a statewide office was Kate Barnard, who in 1907 was chosen as Commissioner of Charities and Corrections for two terms. She fought for a compulsory education law, prison reform, and a ban on child labor. She lived in Newalla and Oklahoma City. A bronze sculpture of "Miss Kate" sits in the state Capitol.

Built in 1844, the Cherokee National Supreme Court Building in Tahlequah (pop. 14,458) is the oldest government building in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation's tourism department has renovated the exterior and, when the interior renovation is complete, plans to turn the building into a museum. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Boley (pop. 1,126) was founded in 1903 as a camp for black railroad construction workers. The town was billed as a haven for blacks who emigrated from the South to start new lives. Booker T. Washington called Boley "the most enterprising and . . . interesting" of the black-established towns in the nation.

Jon Michael McGrath II first picked up a shotgun at age 11 in Boy Scout camp. Four months later, the Tulsa boy became a champion skeet shooter. Now 17, McGrath has won 14 junior world skeet titles and four national titles, and was an alternate in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Express Ranches in Yukon (pop. 21,043) is home to 14 black Clydesdales that compete nationally and in Canada. Visitors can view the distinctive horses, kept in a renovated 1936 barn that includes a large loft with historical exhibits and a gift shop. The Clydesdale teams also appear in parades and promotional events, including the Children's Miracle Network of Oklahoma.

The art of porcelain painting is celebrated at the World Organization of China Painters Museum in Oklahoma City. The organization, founded in 1967 by porcelain painter Pauline Salyer, has one of the finest collections of hand-painted porcelain in the nation.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

In an online vote for the state's official rock song, residents chose "Do You Realize?" by the Flaming Lips, an alternative rock band based in Oklahoma City. Gov. Brad Henry also proclaimed last April 28 Flaming Lips Day across the state.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

Starting in the late 1950s, Tulsa musicians created what became known as the Tulsa Sound, a mix of rock 'n' roll, western swing and blues. Among the artists associated with the style are J.J. Cale, Rocky Frisco, Leon Russell, Elvin Bishop and guitarist Eric Clapton, whose band for years included Tulsans. Banking usually is serious business, but the online Redneck Bank, "where bankin's funner," mixes "bid'ness" with humor. The online bank, a division of Bank of the Wichitas, based in Snyder (pop. 1,509), offers a debit card with a picture of a braying horse.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—Roman Nose State Park, north of Watonga (pop. 4,658), was named after Southern Cheyenne Chief Roman Nose, who brought his tribe to winter in the canyons and lived there from 1887 until his death in 1917.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

-Known as the voice of professional rodeo, Clem McSpadden (1925-2008) announced rodeos nationwide for six decades, starting in 1947 in Iowa. Born in Rogers County (pop. 70,641), McSpadden announced rodeos for ABC's Wide World of Sports in the 1960s and was inducted into state and national cowboy and rodeo halls of fame. Early in his career, he also served as a U.S. congressman and an Oklahoma state senator.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—Considered the crown jewel of architect Bruce Goff's work, the Bavinger House in Norman (pop. 95,694) is a native stone and glass structure with curving walls and suspended rooms that was four years in the making in the 1950s. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1987, the American Institute of Architects awarded the house the Twenty-Five Year Award to recognize its importance to American architecture.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—Radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, who for 70 years told America "the rest of the story," died at age 90 in February. The Tulsa native's news show reached an estimated 24 million listeners, and aired on more than 1,200 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces Radio stations around the world.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—Yewed, in Alfalfa County (pop. 6,105), was meant to be named for Adm. George Dewey shortly after his victory in Manila Bay in the 1848 Spanish-American War. But since another town was named Dewey, the post office reversed the spelling. Yewed is now a ghost town.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—Born in 1933 in Pauls Valley (pop. 6,256), country music singer Jean Shepard was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. Her first hit was the 1953 million-selling duet recording with Ferlin Husky called "A Dear John Letter." Tony Morris, an accountant from Coweta (pop. 7,139) and an amateur paleontologist, discovered a fossil that scientists believe is a new species. Morris found the 280-million-year-old lizard-like skull a few years ago while digging through rubble in an old rock quarry near Lawton (pop. 92,757).

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—Tulsa's "Center of the Universe" attraction is a brick circle on the Boston Avenue pedestrian overpass between First and Archer streets. People standing in the circle can experience an acoustic anomaly: They can hear their voices echo, but others can't.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–Norman (pop. 95,694) honors James Garner with a bronze statue of the actor in his role as Bret Maverick from the late 1950s and early 1960s TV series Maverick. Garner was born in Norman in 1928 and starred in the 1970s series The Rockford Files, as well as about 100 films, including Murphy's Romance and Victor/Victoria. Navarre Scott Momaday, born in 1934 in Lawton (pop. 92,757), was the first American Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1969.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—The state is batty for flying mammals and in 2006 designated the Mexican free-tailed bat as its state flying mammal. Every spring, about 1 million of the bats migrate from Mexico to the Selman Bat Cave near Freedom (pop. 271) to breed before returning to Mexico in the fall. Oklahoma City may be landlocked, but the Bricktown Canal is a popular waterway through the city's entertainment and dining district. Water taxis ply the mile-long canal, opened in 1999.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—Oklahoma residents served by the Emergency Medical Services Authority can feel an ambulance coming even if they can't hear it. EMSA, the state's largest ambulance service, is the first in the nation to outfit its ambulance fleet with Howler sirens, which emit low-frequency tones that nearby drivers can feel. The ambulance authority serves Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Bixby (pop. 13,336), Jenks (pop. 9,557), Sand Springs (pop. 17,451) and other towns.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—A grain elevator near downtown Oklahoma City has been turned into a rock climber’s paradise. Rocktown Climbing Gym features climbing routes up to 90 feet high, both inside and outside 16 silos.

The state’s largest independent bookstore is the Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City, with more than 60,000 new titles in stock, including sections devoted to Oklahoma authors, American Indian books and regional-interest books.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—Finding where the fish are biting got easier in the late 1950s when Carl Lowrance and his sons, Darrell and Arlen, developed and sold the first transistorized sportfishing sonar. “The little green box,” as the Fish Lo-K-Tor was known, became the most popular sonar instrument in the world. Today, Lowrance Electronics Co. in Tulsa specializes in marine electronics and GPS (Global Positioning System) devices.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

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