Oklahoma Trivia & Tidbits - Page 20

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

Eliza Cruce Hall, the niece of Oklahoma’s second governor, collected more than 300 dolls now on display in Ardmore (pop. 23,711). The collection at the Eliza Cruce Hall Doll Museum includes porcelain dolls, kewpie dolls, and even two hand-carved wooden dolls dating to 1778.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

In Oklahoma City, a multimedia salute to the free enterprise system features oversize dollar bills decorated with the heads of presidents that sing in harmony. Enterprise Square also has hands-on demonstrations on the laws of supply and demand, one of the world’s largest cash registers, and statues of successful entrepreneurs.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

Eight symbols inscribed on a huge sandstone may prove Norsemen were in Oklahoma 500 years before Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Some scholars believe the inscription on the Heavener Runestone is a date—Nov. 11, 1012. The stone is at Heavener Runestone State Park near Heavener (pop. 3,201).

first appeared: 9/23/2001

The 1893 opening of the Cherokee Strip was the largest of the five “land runs” that allowed Oklahoma settlers to stake their claims on former federal land. On Sept. 16 of that year, more than 100,000 settlers raced to claim fewer than 50,000 lots in the 226-mile tract near what is now Enid.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

The Dewey Hotel Museum offers a peek at turn-of-the-century life. Jacob Bartles, the founder of Dewey (pop. 3,179), built the Victorian-style hotel in 1899. As a museum, it now displays antique furniture, glassware, clothing, and photographs of activities in the hotel in the early 1900s.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

Jim Powers, the former owner of a salvage yard, has used scrap metal to create works of art, including a dinosaur made from tire rims. Powers’ works can be seen at the Jim Powers Junk Art Museum near Gage (pop. 429).

first appeared: 9/9/2001

Frankoma Pottery, sought after by collectors across the country, is manufactured in Sapulpa (pop. 19,166). Since 1933, the Frank family has used only Oklahoma clay to create the Western-style pieces.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

A wooden blue whale graces Route 66 near Catoosa (pop. 5,449). The 50-foot whale was built in the 1970s as part of a water park and alligator ranch. The operation closed in the 1980s, but area residents recently restored the whale—one of the most famous landmarks on Route 66—to its original condition.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

A mysterious light repeatedly seen near the Missouri border has intrigued residents and visitors to northeastern Oklahoma for more than 100 years. Most sightings have occurred on Devil’s Promenade Road, near Quapaw (pop. 984), and involve reports of a large glowing ball of light bouncing through the hills.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

The Percussive Arts Society Museum, dedicated to all things rhythmic, contains xylophones, chimes, marimbas, and drums from all over the world. Exhibits at the museum in Lawton include a collapsible drum kit built in 1919 for traveling musicians and a vibraphone made of meteorites.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Once a year, visitors to the Fort Gibson Historic Site, near Tahlequah (pop. 14,458), are invited to do a little baking in a Civil War-era oven. The large stone oven is heated with burning oak, and the public brings dough to place on the oven’s floor to bake.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

The only place on earth where people can dig for hourglass selenite crystal is Oklahoma’s Great Salt Plains State Park. Once a year, visitors are allowed to dig for the crystals, in which hourglass-shaped pieces of clay and sand are often embedded.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

Oklahoma’s state rock, the rose rock, is actually a crystal. The formations resembling full-grown roses were made when a prehistoric sea evaporated, leaving behind the mixture of barium sulfate and sand. Iron oxide in the sand gives the formations a cinnamon hue.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

The Route 66 Museum in Clinton (pop. 9,298), operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society, features exhibits detailing the history of the famous highway, from its construction using mule-drawn graders in the 1920s to its dwindling use with the completion of the interstate highway system in the 1970s. The museum, decorated with glass brick and pink neon lights, also contains classic cars, including a Corvette and a “psychedelic” Volkswagen van from the 1960s.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

Five hundred miles from the nearest ocean, a submarine can be found in the Arkansas River at the Port of Muskogee. The USS Batfish, a World War II submarine that served in the South Pacific, is on display at the port in Muskogee (pop. 37,708) and is open for tours from March to November.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Hugo (pop. 5,978), a center for rail transportation at the turn of the century, was also the winter home to a dozen circuses taking advantage of the area’s mild climate. Today, three of the nation’s largest circuses spend their winters near Hugo: the Carson and Barnes Circus, the Kelly-Miller Brothers Circus, and the Chinese Imperial Circus.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Oklahoma has been home to more astronauts than any other state. Six astronauts—and a seventh in training—have come from Oklahoma, including Gordon Cooper, who was the first American to fly two orbits around the Earth in a Mercury capsule, and Shannon Lucid, who holds the world’s record for time spent in orbit by a woman—88 days in the Mir Space Station. The others are Thomas P. Stafford, Stuart A. Roosa, Owen K. Garriott, and William R. Pogue. John B. Herrington is in training.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

A museum, near Afton (pop. 915), honors custom cars—specially designed and built vehicles that were never mass produced or factory-built cars that were later customized. Darryl Starbird, a custom car and hot rod designer and builder, created The National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum, which features more than 40 custom-built vehicles.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park in Foyil (pop. 86) is hard to miss. A 60-foot, brightly painted cement totem pole next to the highway is the park’s signature piece. The Tulsa shop teacher created the park for fun. It also contains an 11-sided “fiddle house,” filled with 300 handmade violins, a 12-foot arrowhead, and other equally unique items.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

Boise City (pop. 1,509) is the only community in the contiguous 48 states to have been bombed by an airplane during World War II. On July 5, 1943, a B-17 bomber on a night training mission accidentally dropped six practice bombs on the town, destroying a garage but nothing else.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.