Red Fork is a community in Southwest Tulsa. It was founded in 1883 as a

railhead In the UK, railheading refers to the practice of travelling further than necessary to reach a rail service, typically by car. The phenomenon is common among commuters seeking a more convenient journey. Reasons for railheading include, but are ...

on the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

. It is famous for being the location of the first

oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may ...

Tulsa County Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in Oklahoma, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the secon ...

, the Sue A. Bland #1.

Naming of the town

The town is sometimes said to have been named for the Cimarron River, but both forks there are far upstream and both are reddish. The river through Tulsa is a not a fork but a merger of the Cimmaron, but it is the reddish fork of the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

from where it joins the normally blue-green

Verdigris River The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

downstream. The contrast in color was striking to early explorers coming upstream, and resulted in the naming of the river.

Early days

Red Fork originally was on what was to become

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

, stretching back to

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-centu ...

and west towards Berryhill. After the oil discovery, it looked like Red Fork might outdo Tulsa, but Tulsa boosters succeeded in attracting new people and businesses there. Also, Red Fork was limited in size by the bend of the river and by the steep hills. Tulsa annexed Red Fork on October 16, 1927, and in 1928 the post office lost its separate status and became Red Fork Station (now West Tulsa Station) of the Tulsa Post Office.

The Sue A. Bland #1

The Sue A. Bland #1 well was drilled by Drs. J.C.W. Bland and

Fred S. Clinton Fred Severs Clinton was one of the first doctors in Oklahoma, having begun to practice while the area was still part of Indian Territory. He built the first hospital in Tulsa and was very active in promoting public health infrastructure projects. ...

in Red Fork. The well was on the homestead allotment of Dr. Bland’s wife, Sue A. Bland, a Creek citizen. The well struck oil on 24 June 1901, and brought nationwide publicity and an oil speculation to the Tulsa region and

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

Town institutions

While mostly residential, Red Fork is home to television station

KTUL KTUL (channel 8) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located at Lookout Mountain (near South 29th West Avenue, west of Interstate 244) ...

(Channel 8); a unique; railroad-themed restaurant; an award-winning

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

in a 120-year-old rock home; Route 66-related businesses; historic schools; a

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

railroad yard; and a popular Tulsa Park recreation center. Nearby are two colleges; a major Tulsa regional library; and oil and transportation-related businesses, among others. Red Fork was once home to the Crystal City Amusement Park featuring a giant swimming pool and Tulsa's original, giant "Zingo Roller Coaster". The privately owned park was built in 1929, but went out of business in the 1950s, after both the Casa Loma bath house and dance hall buildings burned down."Tulsa Area Amusement Parks"
webpage; January 10, 2010; Tulsa Gal; accessed August 18, 2011

References

External links