While many folks consider only Tulsa or Oklahoma City when visiting the state of Oklahoma, another city has its own unique history, Bartlesville. Made popular with its ties to the Phillips Petroleum Company and Phillips 66, Bartlesville is a real find.
Even more surprising, you will also discover Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper, Price Tower, in the middle of the city. The tower now houses a cute little boutique hotel with meticulously detailed rooms designed by New York-based architect, Wendy Evans Joseph. The Tower is home to a very eclectic Copper Bar on the 15th floor, and the Price Tower Arts Center on the bottom floor with a number of exhibits inside and out all year. Completed in 1956, the building is a designated National Historical Landmark.
As for the Phillips Petroleum connection, Frank Phillips relocated to Bartlesville in 1905 with dreams of making it in the oil industry, which he did after 81 straight failures. Visiting his home, where his family lived until 1950 in a 26-room neo-classical style mansion completed in 1909, is especially telling of the man and the times in which he lived. Now owned by the Oklahoma Historical Society, some of the highlights in the home include, a unique blending of gold fixtures, ceiling mirrors, personal barber’s chair, a richly paneled library, the painting by John Singer Sargent, and a delicate Tiffany lamp.
Just outside of town, there is the Woolaroc Museum, which is American West all the way with a number of paintings and sculptures from Frank Phillip’s personal collection. On the grounds of Woolaroc is the historic lodge home Phillips enjoyed on weekends (his country estate), as well as walking trails, mountain man camp, a petting zoo, and you might even get a glimpse of a buffalo, elk, or zebra during your drive.
The Phillips Petroleum Museum offers a good look at Phillip’s the man, as well as the company from its opening in 1917 to 2002 when it merged with Conoco. The museum offers some great historical exhibits from the early days, hostile takeover attempts throughout the years, and even includes a chronicle of the Phillips 66ers Basketball team.
But the story of Phillips is not all that there is in Bartlesville. Discovery 1 Park is a great way to spend the afternoon, and you will also see Nellie Johnson No. 1, the first oil derrick discovered in the area in 1897. Next door is Kiddie Park, but adults will enjoy it too with a carousel, bi-planes, and the city’s famous train taking guests in and outside the park.
Other stops along the way include Prairie Song, a re-created cowboy village, owned and operated by a husband and wife who are descendents of Oklahoma pioneers. In fact, the land was homesteaded in 1892, and the ranch has been in the family for 100 years. The village includes a saloon, post office, general store, schoolhouse, chapel, doctor’s office, cabin home, rock jailhouse, smokehouse, depot, watershed, dance hall, blacksmith shop, and stables. The owners are constantly adding new things. Outdoors you can enjoy a picnic on the property near a covered bridge, water tower, and windmill.
Keepsake Candles began in 1969 in a family kitchen, but today you will find over 500 styles of candles, with the shop and factory now housed in an old U.S. Air Force Radar Installation, which shares its own history as you check out the rows and rows of scented candles.
You won’t leave hungry either, a must-stop are both Dink’s BBQ and Murphy’s Steakhouse, where you’re sure to find that great southern hospitality in this little of piece of history called Bartlesville that has, up to now, been a very well-kept secret.