Bartlesville Convention & Visitors Bureau Visitbartlesville.Com
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Bartlesville Convention & Visitors Bureau 201 SW Keeler • Bartlesville, OK 74003 918-336-8709 • 800-364-8708 VisitBartlesville.com Welcome to Bartlesville! At the heart of “Green Country” is Bartlesville. This unexpected gem is nestled against the beautiful Osage Hills and built on the history of the American West. Bartlesville’s charm and class make it one of the most attractive cities in Oklahoma. What truly makes Bartlesville a warm and welcoming destination are the people. With exceptional museums, outstanding architecture and one- of-a-kind cultural events, Bartlesville is the place for the unique Oklahoma adventure. Fill your visit with historic tours, family friendly attractions and fun events. Or, make the most of a business trip with delicious restaurants, beautiful parks, or friendly retail shopping. Local residents help roll out the red carpet for visitors, no matter their reason for staying. Located 45 miles north of Tulsa on US Hwy 75, Bartlesville is well known for its energy and history. Attractions such as Frank Phillips’ Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower, the Frank Phillips Home, and the Nellie Johnstone No. 1 (Oklahoma’s first commercial oil well) located in Discovery 1 Park, all tell the story of Oklahoma oil and the legendary people that contributed to the industry. Other attractions – the Phillips Petroleum Company Museum, Bartlesville Area History Museum, and the AT&SF Steam Locomotive No. 940 – tell even more of the story. Pair any of these with our outstanding events and you have the makings of a great vacation experience. Bringing children along on a visit to Bartlesville? Check out our many parks and recreation opportunities, including the new Lee Lake with fishing beginning in spring of 2016. TheKiddie Park, located in Johnstone Park, has been a family favorite since 1947 and includes several amusement park rides for children under 12. Frontier Pool has a splash pad, leisure pool, lazy river and water slides that are fun for everyone. Events in the area combine music, food and the arts with an Oklahoma feel. Sunfest Arts and Music Festival is touted as Oklahoma’s largest outdoor picnic with food vendors from near and far. The event has everything from original music and entertainment to varied arts and crafts. OK Mozart is a premier music festival which attracts visitors and guest artists from around the world. Classical music is the cornerstone of this festival, but artists also come from bluegrass, pop, country and the theatre. Woolaroc hosts summer events such as the Mountain Man camps, OK Mozart’s outdoor concert with fireworks andKidsFest . Oklahoma Indian Summer celebration showcases nationally known artists and beautiful traditional attire and dancing. Bartlesville has played host to oil barons, Oklahoma legends, and well known celebrities. However, the most important visitor is the one that hasn’t yet arrived. Let us serve as your next weekend 2 BARTLESVILLE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU getaway, family reunion destination, or convention location. The Oklahoma Indian Summer Bartlesville CVB is committed to help you create many happy Northeast Oklahoma’s premiere Native American Indian festival! memories of the people and places of Bartlesville! This colorful festival features an art competition with juried art We look forward to being your warm and welcoming host! show, gallery exhibit, traditional arts and crafts, children’s games, Native fi lms and intertribal pow-wow. September 16-17, 2016. Maria Swindell Gus, Executive Director 918-397-2125 • OKIndianSummer.org Bartlesville Convention and Visitors Bureau Cultural Groups 201 SW Keeler • Bartlesville, OK 74003 918-336-8709 • 800-364-8708 • VisitBartlesville.com Broadway in Bartlesville: 918-336-2787 or 800-618-2787 BartlesvilleCommunityCenter.com Major Area Events Bartlesville Symphony: 918-336-2787 or 800-618-2787 BartlesvilleSymphony.org OK Mozart International Festival This popular week-long festival enters its 32nd year by celebrating Bartlesville Choral Society: 918-336-2787 or 800-618-2787 the best and brightest of orchestral talent in Oklahoma and more BvilleChoralSociety.org —featuring chamber concerts, world-renowned guest artists Bartlesville Community Concert Association: and crossover talent. The week-long festival showcases stellar 918-336-2787 or 800-618-2787, BCCAMusic.org performances by professional orchestras along with a variety Bartlesville Civic Ballet: 918-336-2787 or 800-618-2787 of jazz, contemporary music, bluegrass and much more. Mark BalletBartlesville.com your calendars for June 11-18, 2016 and join us in Bartlesville for daytime and evening concerts as well as 90+ showcase events, Children’s Musical Theatre: 918-336-0558 many of which are free to the public. Opening day includes a 5K CMTOnStage.com fun run and activities at Prairie Song. Music appreciation is for kids Theater Bartlesville: 918-336-1900 of all ages – be sure to look for the Especially for Kids activities TheaterBartlesville.com including musical education opportunities and puppet shows. The festival is made possible through the support of the Oklahoma Arts FESTIVAL Council, as well as corporate, individual, and foundation patrons OK throughout the United States. MOZART 2016 oklahoma s premier music festival JUNE 11-18 918-336-9900 or visit OKMozart.com. BARTLESVILLE, OK Western Heritage Weekend Enjoy Oklahoma’s Western Heritage at its fi nest! A two-day kid Classical, Jazz, friendly celebration that includes a Western Day Parade and free Chamber, Swing, Tom Mix Festival with longhorn cattle drive in downtown Dewey, then head to Prairie Song I.T. for the Wild West Show with trick Folk & String. riding, roping and shooting. Fourth weekend of September. 918-336-8709 or 918-534-1555 • CityOfDewey.com OPUS PrairieSong.net • TomMixMuseum.com 32 Featuring the nest of Oklahoma musicians - and much more! Violin & sheet music artwork by Gary Gibson, OK Mozart’s ocial 2016 Festival Artist. OKMOZART.COM 800-364-8708 • VisitBartlesville.com 3 JACOB BARTLES All historical photos courtesy Bartlesville Area History Museum. The Boom Our Story In 1899, the AT&SF Railroad completed its depot on the south Humble Beginning… bank, the first oil trains departed for Kansas refineries, and Jake Oklahoma’s commercial oil and gas industry was born in 1897 Bartles moved his store north to found the town of Dewey, named in Bartlesville, Indian Territory, when the Cudahy No. 1 “Nellie after Admiral George Dewey, whose victory at Manila Bay was Johnstone” oil well came in a gusher. current news. Investors George Keeler and William Johnstone came to this The prospect of oil was a magnet for oilmen, lease hounds, area of the Cherokee, Delaware and Osage in the early 1870s to drillers and roustabouts. By 1904 more than 100 wells had been engage in the lucrative fur trade. Other traders included Nelson drilled in the Bartlesville area and pipelines laid to the Coffeyville, Carr, who built a gristmill on the north bank of the Caney River in Kansas refinery. In 1907, the city celebrated statehood as the 1870, and Jake Bartles, who bought the mill and added a flourmill home of over 120 oil companies. and general store. Petroleum Pioneers In the early 1880s, Johnstone and Keeler went to work for Young engineer H.V. Foster arrived in 1902 to manage his Bartles and in 1884 they opened a competing store on the river’s family’s blanket oil lease on all 1.5 million acres of the Osage south bank. Lands. Soon he divided the lease into smaller acreages and sublet Keeler and Johnstone wanted to bring the AT&SF Railroad to these to other drillers, creating the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil their side of the river and when Keeler saw oil scum on the surface Company. of the Sand Creek in 1875, the seeds were planted. In 1896, In 1930, Edward Buehler Delk designed Foster’s La Quinta after lobbying the Cherokees and the Department of Interior, they Mansion, now the home of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Foster secured an oil lease. sold ITIO to Cities Services Oil Company in 1941 for $70 million, They were also campaigning to win approval to charter a town making Cities Service the 10th largest oil company in the United site near their store. Bartlesville was incorporated on January States. 15, 1897, as the Cudahy Oil Company began rigging up their well Other legendary pioneers got their start subleasing from ITIO. site on the edge of the new town. On March 25, 1897, at a depth Attorney George Getty visited Bartlesville in 1903 and sublet of 1,303 feet, the well was shot with nitroglycerine, gushed to life 1,100 acres for $500. Young son J. Paul Getty bought 100 shares and Bartlesville – the energy city – was born. in his father’s Minnehoma Oil Company for $5 and their first well 4 BARTLESVILLE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU hit pay dirt. The Getty family stayed in Bartlesville for extended success here. They operate in a city that still boasts a small, but periods of time and J. Paul Getty spent summers as a roustabout thriving, independent oil and gas industry. throughout his teenage years. Today Banker and barber Frank Phillips arrived in Bartlesville in 1904 At the turn of the 20th century Bartlesville boomed with and started Citizen Bank and Trust. Brother L.E. Phillips joined him wildcatters and oil pioneers. Bartlesville residents of the 21st and they drilled on a sublease north of town. Their 4th well, the century work in information technology, engineering, fi nance, Anna Anderson, came in a gusher and was followed by 80 straight training and procurement. Many of these modern day pioneers can producing wells. be seen in downtown restaurants and bars to enjoy varied cuisine Frank built his Bartlesville mansion, now the Frank Phillips and hear live music that is uniquely Oklahoma. While Bartlesville Home, in 1909.