Bixby is a city in
Tulsa and
Wagoner counties in the
U.S. state of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
; it is a suburb of
Tulsa. Its population was 28,609 at the
2020 census and 20,884 in the 2010 census, an increase of 36.99 percent In 2010, Bixby became the 19th largest city in Oklahoma. It is nicknamed "The Garden Spot of Oklahoma" for its rich agrarian heritage. Although it is one of the fastest-growing communities in Oklahoma, it remains a
sod-growing center and a popular location for purchasing fresh vegetables. The per capita income of $36,257 is the highest in the
Tulsa metropolitan area and is more than 50 percent higher than the state average.
[Stephanie Andre. "Bixby, Oklahoma's 'Garden Spot,' is blooming upscale businesses," ''Tulsa World''.](_blank)
Accessed June 28, 2015
History
Alexander Posey, a member of the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and his family settled in the area now known as Bixby in the late 1800s. He founded a community which was initially known as "Posey on Posey Creek." It included two saloons, a blacksmith shop, and a general store. The town became a government townsite with a post office in 1895. Located in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation,
Indian Territory
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 States, ...
, Bixby was named in honor of Tams Bixby, a chairman of the
Dawes Commission.
The original townsite plat was approved by the Dawes Commission in 1902. Many settlers were attracted to the area by the rich, though sometimes swampy river bottom land. In 1904 the
Midland Valley Railroad named for
Midland, Arkansas, laid tracks and built a depot about 1/2 mile north of the original town of Bixby.
The railroad created factions that briefly split Bixby into two towns. The new part of town was deliberately surveyed so that the new streets did not align with the existing ones.
However, businesses in the original town soon moved to the new location and built permanent brick buildings there. Bixby incorporated as an independent, self-governing town in 1906, with a population of 400 and an area of .
The first mayor, recorder and five aldermen were elected in February 1907. In 1911, a two-story brick schoolhouse was built on Main Street. Bixby Central Elementary is near the original site. A traffic bridge was built over the
Arkansas River in 1911; for a time it was said to be the longest bridge west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
.
Fry, a community located north of the original townsite but later annexed by Bixby, served the surrounding trade area when the only way to get across the Arkansas River was by way of the Shellenberger Ferry. Fry's post office operated from 1896 until 1909. The ''Bixby Bulletin'', the town's first newspaper, began publication in February 1905. It continued publication until 2005. A second paper, the ''Bixby Journal'' existed only from 1907 until 1910.
Bixby was impacted and enriched by the discovery of nearby natural gas deposits in 1905-1906 and oil fields in 1913, but farming remained the backbone of the community well into the 20th Century.
Early farmers focused on production of
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
,
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and
alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...
in the rich river bottom. During the 1930s, truck farming of
vegetables slowly replaced those crops. In 1941, the city became an important regional center for shipping produce by railroads. At that time Bixby was christened with its nickname "The Garden Spot of Oklahoma," a designation still carried on the town seal and public vehicles.
Cantaloupes,
potatoes,
radishes,
squash,
turnips,
spinach
Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...
, and
sweet corn were shipped from Bixby to places across the U.S. In time the majority of the truck farms were converted to the production of
sod, typically
Bermuda grass, or developed for residential and other purposes. Only a small percentage of Bixby residents now work in
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, but the town continues to celebrate its earthy roots annually in June with the "Green Corn Festival."
Another point of history commemorated by Bixby is a visit to the area in 1832 by the famous American writer
Washington Irving. Irving accompanied a
U.S. Army exploration party on an excursion from
Fort Gibson which is in the northern part of
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, west onto the prairie and the lands occupied by the
Osage and
Pawnee tribes. He described his adventure in his book ''A Tour on the Prairies'' (1835). He relates camping in a grove of large trees on the banks of the Arkansas River in what is present-day Bixby. The town has honored his visit by creating Washington Irving Park and
Arboretum near the location. The park contains an
amphitheatre stage patterned after the front facade of Irving's home,
Sunnyside, in
Tarrytown, New York, as well as gates near the park entrance which are replicas of ones at Irving's estate. A bronze statue of Washington Irving sits near the stage. Bixby Middle School drama students present a popular retelling of Irving's "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in the park each October. The park is also the location of the heavily attended "Bixby BBQ & Music Festival" each May and the Bixby "Deutschesfest" in September.
In 2009,
CNN Money.com placed Bixby No. 67 on its list of 100 Best Places to Live.
Geography
Bixby is located at (35.960898, −95.878258).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The average elevation is above MSL. The town is bisected into north and south portions by the Arkansas River; the original town center is located south of the river.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, there were 20,884 people, 7,658 households, and 5,295 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,187 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.6%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 5.9%
Native American, 1.6%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.9% from
other races, and 4.8% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 4.9% of the population.
There were 7,658 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.4% were
married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city, the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $73,163 and the median income for a family was $85,000. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $37,368. About 5.5% of the total population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
.
Of the city's population over the age of 25, 37.8% hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Points of interest
*
Lake Bixhoma, a City of Bixby facility located about 5 miles southeast of town offering fishing and boating with purchase of a license.
*
Washington Irving Memorial Park and Arboretum
*
SpiritBank Event Center
* Plummer’s Service Station from 1921 in downtown Bixby, a restoration project of the Bixby Historical Society.
Government
Bixby has a council/city manager form of government.
As of 2022, the mayor is Brian Guthrie and the vice mayor is Paul Blair.
Education
Bixby Public Schools are in the Bixby School District. There are nine schools in the district including
Bixby High School, Bixby 9th Grade Center, Bixby Middle School for 7th through 8th, Bixby North Intermediate, Bixby Central Intermediate, Bixby East Intermediate, Bixby East Elementary, Bixby North Elementary, Bixby Central Elementary and upcoming Bixby West Intermediate and Elementary.
For the 2011 school year, there were approximately 5,000 students.
Media
Newspaper
Bixby has one newspaper, the ''
Bixby Bulletin''. The paper is published every Thursday. It is owned by Community Publishers, a newspaper and Internet publisher and commercial printer which serves Oklahoma,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, and
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
.
Television
Cox Communications Cable channel 24.3 is the Bixby Government-access television (GATV) cable TV municipal information channel. Among other things, it displays information about the city government, city council meeting, upcoming events, and general information about the city. The channel also features local sports and weather reports.
Communications
Bixby Telephone Company, commonly known as BTC Broadband, is a well-known company in the Bixby community and has been providing internet services since 1993 and telephone services since 1914. It is one of the first companies in Oklahoma to offer a gigabit connection over fiber optic cables to select neighborhoods. In addition to adding fiber optic support to existing neighborhoods, BTC Broadband is active in working with local developers to ensure select areas are pre-installed with fiber optic support.
Cultural references
Bixby has been used as the setting for at least two popular works of
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
. The best-selling novel ''
Tex
Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname
* Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman
* Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...
'' (1979) by
S.E. Hinton tells the story of its title character, a troubled teen in rural Bixby. The 1982 film adaption, starring
Matt Dillon, was filmed on location and features the Bixby High School as well as various other locations around the town. The ''
Midnighters'' trilogy (begun in 2004) by
Scott Westerfeld is a supernatural story about a group of five Bixby High School students.
* Bixby, Oklahoma is the setting of Westerfeld's "Midnighters Trilogy", in which the location of Bixby on an exact point along the
36th parallel creates a secret hour at midnight where everyone is frozen, except for five teenagers born at the stroke of midnight.
* The majority of the movie ''
Tex
Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname
* Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman
* Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...
'' was shot in Bixby. The characters attend Bixby High School and drive through Bixby, as well as
Tulsa.
Notable people
* Notable former or current residents of Bixby include comedian
Rodney Carrington, hot rod artist
Coop,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach
Butch Davis from
Florida International University which is southwest of
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, professional wrestler "Cowboy"
Bill Watts,
[Jimmie Tramel]
"WWE Hall of Fame to induct 'Cowboy Bill'"
, '' Tulsa World'', April 3, 2009. football
cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...
Chris Harris,
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
driver
Tanner Berryhill, country singer
Corey Kent, World of Outlaws driver
Shane Stewart, and
Cleveland Indians (Guardians) outfielder
Roy Foster.
*
Barbara Starr Scott (1939–2020),
Cherokee Nation tribal councilor (1983–1987, 1995–1999)
References
External links
City of BixbyBixby Chamber of CommerceBixby Historical Society"Bixby." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''
{{authority control
Cities in Tulsa County, Oklahoma
Cities in Wagoner County, Oklahoma
Cities in Oklahoma
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Tulsa metropolitan area
Oklahoma populated places on the Arkansas River