What Have We Been Up to This Month?

A few things have been in the works for the museum this month. We are in the works for our Christmas Open House, Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 (5:00PM to 7:30PM)!

The Antique Automobile Club of America, from Tulsa, has a car cruise to see our many museums! Thank you, to all that were able to visit the museums. We also are completing our improved "African-American History of Sapulpa"​ display, honoring businessmen and -women, the education community, and a few stories and lives that some people may not know about. We also hired a collections accessor and a building accessor for two days, last week, and they came in to observe us. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are hopefully, and want to be better for the future! We are working on a strategic plan and goals for the future. We have ideas for grants to help achieve our goals! We got this, but we still need your support!

Tourism:
The furthest visitor outside of Sapulpa to visit our museums:

• In Oklahoma: Choctaw, Oklahoma (approx. 83 miles away)
• In the Country: Las Vegas, Nevada (approx. 1,230 miles away)

​Images of Then and Now in Sapulpa

Take on the corner of E Dewey and Maple St, Big Dipper opened on Saturday, May 22nd, 1948.
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• (Then) Big Dipper on the southeast corner of Dewey and Maple
• (Now) the closed Sonic location

Did You Know...?

The city was to have a big Halloween celebration downtown. Everyone was encouraged to wear costumes, and 21 different merchants were planning stunts in front of their stores. They were scheduled about 10 minutes apart. The final stunt (at People's Furniture at 9:55) was for a high diver to jump from the top of the Clayton Building into three mattresses and springs. (Sapulpa Herald, October 31, 1921)

The town's Halloween party was a great success with huge crowds attending. The theme was Mardi Gras with everyone in costumes. The Herald stated "the proverbial lid was nowhere to be seen, and judging from the excess hilarity, was not on the city during festivities. Booths provided everything from candies to sweet cider and even other drinks were to be had in remote spots." (Sapulpa Herald, November 1, 1921)

Then and Now Images of Sapulpa

​Taken near the corner of S Park and E Dewey, the images show the east side of the IOOF building.
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• (Then) in the 1940s, Kress business, Bateman Drugs, dentist, and a radio service lined the street.
• (Now) the large red building of the IOOF building

What Happened This Month in Sapulpa History

County Assessor, Fred Patrick, reported that Creek County has lost almost $7 million* in valuation since 1930. This was a 22% drop in one year. The depression was affecting everything and property values took a huge drop. This was devastating to both county and city governments and its people. Cities at the time still received a part of their income for operating expenses from property taxes. Now cities do not receive income from property taxes for operating expenses, but rely mostly on sales taxes. (Sapulpa Herald, September 3, 1931)

*$106 million in today's money

Artifact of the Month
One of the few books written by Mary McDougal Axelson, "A Child is Born". This book is autographed by the author, and the cover of the book is the movie image. This book, written by a local author, had this book featured as a Warner Brother's movie.

Mary is the daughter of a former Sapulpa Mayor, Daniel Archibald McDougal. He was mayor from 1910-1914. Mary wrote the biography of her father in "Thirteenth Child" published 1966. Mary and her sisters Jennie & Violet grew up in Sapulpa.

*Larry Bartley, from Kailua, Hawaii, has done amazing research of authors, playwrights, and scriptwriters.

Then and Now Images of Sapulpa
Mount Olive Baptist Church on the corner of W Johnson Ave and West Street (later N Gray St). The May 1960 tornadoes demolished the area, destroying three churches and the Booker T. Washington High School.

• (Then): Images show before and after the 1960 tornado.
• (Now): Images of the Church today.