The outnumbered blacks began retreating to the Greenwood Avenue business district while truckloads of whites set fires and shot them on sight. Far into the early morning hours of the next day Black Tulsa was looted and burned by white rioters.
Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, over people were treated for injuries, and almost 1, homes were destroyed. The losses of businesses included two theaters, three hotels, more than a dozen restaurants, several churches, and a hospital.
Estimates of the dead range up to After the governor declared martial law, the National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa and began to round up more than 6, black people, placing them in various internment centers such as the baseball stadium, the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds.
Though the violence had ceased by the next day, many of the interred were kept for up to eight days. After this terrible tragedy, dozens of black families left for more peaceful cities. Today, only a single block of the original buildings remains standing in the area. In the meantime, Tulsa continued to grow as more and more oil fields were found.
The mud-filled streets turned to brick as automobiles arrived and electric trolleys followed the neighborhoods as they developed further and further from downtown. The Dam and Lake Spavinaw State Park continue to provide water to the Tulsa area today as well as boating, fishing, picnicking and camping. This picture of the Meadow Gold Sign in Tulsa, Oklahoma, taken on June 13, , just three days before it was taken down.
It was later moved down the street and is part of a city park. Photo by David Alexander. Spawned by the rapidly changing demands of America, entrepreneurs, Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma and John Woodruff of Springfield , Missouri conceived of the grand idea of linking Chicago to Los Angeles and began lobbying efforts to promote a new highway.
The federal government finally pledged to link small town U. It was also during this year that the Oklahoma City Oil Field was discovered and began to produce enormous quantities of oil. This field, combined with the plentiful supply of petroleum from eastern Oklahoma, overwhelmed demand during the early years of the Depression.
During the early s, growth in Tulsa, like many places across the United States, came almost to a complete halt. Few projects were built and construction stopped on Route However, in , thousands of unemployed men were put back to work and road gangs paved the final stretches of the Mother Road. Petroleum processing also became important to the economy.
In Tulsa had two refineries, the Texaco and the Cosden. At the time, the Cosden Refinery was the largest independent oil refinery in the world. Owned by Joshua S. Cosden, it began operations in In workers initiated a long and, to Tulsa, divisive strike against this institution, which by that time was called the Mid-Continent Refinery.
The conflict lasted well into the s. This facility, located in West Tulsa, operated nonstop into the twenty-first century as the D-X Refinery.
As oil continued to be a dominant factor, by Tulsa's population skyrocketed to , From the beginning of the oil boom to the late s most of the great names in petroleum resided in the city. The first was the Gilcrease Museum, built to house the extensive Thomas Gilcrease art collection. In Tulsa inherited it, and it is recognized worldwide for its Western art. The other was Philbrook, the private home of Waite Phillips. In Phillips donated his home and art collection to Tulsa.
One of the sadder days in Tulsa's history occurred in the summer During eighteen hours between May 31 and June 1 a major outbreak of racial violence exploded, destroying thirty-five to forty square blocks of Tulsa's thriving African American community.
The tragic event left many dead or wounded and thousands more homeless. In the Oklahoma Legislature enacted House Bill , creating the Tulsa Race Riot Commission to reinvestigate and report on the bloodshed and destruction. By Tulsa stood on the cutting edge of the oil industry, which was always looking for new revenue sources.
Aviation became one of the ventures that went hand in hand with the oil industry. As far back as Tulsa had a small airfield near a place then called Alsuma.
In Tulsans had accomplished the nation's first interstate shipment of goods by air, from Tulsa to Kansas City. In Tulsa held its first International Oil Exposition to bring oilmen together and to display the current technology. With the exception of , the event occurred every year until the onset of the Great Depression.
The expo remained the state's major petroleum industry gathering, with eighteen shows taking place between its inception in and its close in Other aviation enterprises have also bolstered the local economy. On January 27, , Spartan Aircraft Company opened. On July 3, , city leaders inaugurated the Tulsa Municipal Airport, and the first shipment of mail to Ponca City was made.
In Tulsa had four airports, including the McIntyre, H. Historians now believe as many as people may have died. In order to understand the Tulsa Race Massacre it is important to understand the complexities of the times. Dick Rowland, Sarah Page and an unknown gunman were the sparks that ignited a long smoldering fire. Jim Crow, jealousy, white supremacy, and land lust, all played roles in leading up to the destruction and loss of life on May 31 and June 1, In , an official Race Riot Commission was organized to review the details of the event.
No one will ever know the absolute truth of what happened during the hours of the Race Massacre. However, by examining historical resources, members of the Race Riot Commission determined a number of details to be undeniable. They are the historical record. The following information comes from the Race Riot Commission Report:. Black Tulsans had every reason to believe that Dick Rowland would be lynched after his arrest. His charges were later dismissed and highly suspect from the start.
They had cause to believe that his personal safety, like the defense of themselves and their community, depended on them alone. As hostile groups gathered and their confrontation worsened, municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the situation.
At the eruption of violence, civil officials selected many men, all of them white and some of them participants in that violence, and made those men their agents as deputies. In that capacity, deputies did not stem the violence but added to it, often through overt acts that were themselves illegal.
Public officials provided fire arms and ammunition to individuals, again all of them white. Many aviation industries converted their factories to accommodate the war effort, and defense workers poured into the city. As a result, a tremendous number of small houses, built to be purchased with Federal Housing Administration loans, were constructed. Many of these houses were built in northeast Tulsa. Redevelopment of the city began in the early s.
The growth of Tulsa to the south led to the construction of the Fifty-First Street Bridge, dedicated in Infill and redevelopment, particularly in the downtown, continued throughout the s. A number of early downtown commercial buildings were demolished to make way for modern high-rises. Residential properties were also targeted for demolition. Many north side homes were torn down to make room for new and better housing.
However, as the downtown was being redeveloped, retail establishments began to move to outlying areas where new residential neighborhoods were springing up. These new, suburban neighborhoods were primarily located in far south Tulsa. During the s, attempts were made to address the relocation of retail stores to the new malls in south Tulsa through such developments as the Main Mall, a pedestrian system in the core of downtown. This development spurred the interest in renovation and reuse of older buildings, and the trend continued through the s.
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