The Future Looks Bright in Greater Tulsa; Bristow Has a Long and Interesting History
AROUND THE REGION-By Henry Primeaux III; Managing PartnerCrown Auto World Bristow
Happy New Year to everyone from Crown Auto World in Bristow!
I am hopeful that this column will be the first of many that will appear in all six of the Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers. The GTR Newspapers are published for readers throughout the greater Tulsa area, and this strategy fits with our Crown Auto World Bristow concept of marketing throughout the region.
We feel we are very fortunate to have lived and been in business in northeastern Oklahoma for 15 years. It is one of the best places to live anywhere, and the future is exciting.
We can look forward to the Vision 2025 projects that will benefit all of us. The Tulsa Regional Events Center with its 18,000-plus seats will bring new vitality to downtown Tulsa. All regions are stronger with a vibrant downtown area, and downtown Tulsa will come to life in the future with the completion of the Vision 2025 projects.
The Arkansas River projects are also exciting and impressive. The RiverWalk Crossing shopping area in Jenks will be one of the favorite places in the region for area shoppers and diners. The project is being constructed to face the river, which will give a special ambiance to visitors. We hope it is the start of improvements that will make our river one the best anywhere for fun and recreation.
Jenks also is a center of attraction with the Oklahoma Aquarium, a “must” for visitors of all ages.
All of the surrounding cities and towns are showing impressive growth. Business in Bixby is expanding, and the downtown area is being revitalized. Owasso continues to grow, and the two new hospitals being built in the “Trails End” city exhibit a strong confidence in the future of that area.
Broken Arrow, now the state’s fifth largest city, is growing amazingly fast and is the home to beautiful neighborhoods and four of the finest golf courses in the southwest.
The Sand Springs area enjoys rolling hills and scenic neighborhoods and will continue to grow with the future extension of the Gilcrease Expressway.
One of the more interesting places in the region is Bristow, the home of our Crown Auto World. Bristow is located only 35 miles from Tulsa down the Turner Turnpike or old Route 66. The history of Bristow is interesting. The town began in 1897 in Indian Territory as a trading post for white settlers. The actual building of Bristow began with the coming of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad the next year. The city is located in the former Creek Nation Indian Territory and was widely known as the “Woodland Queen” of the Creek Nation.
The city was named after the Honorable J. L. Bristow, the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General at the time the local post office was established.
In the 1920s, Bristow was an oil boomtown. Business was good, and in 1925, Oklahoma’s first radio station, the 500 watt KFRU, was founded in Bristow’s Roland Hotel. The next year the call letters were changed to KVOO, its power increased to 1,000 watts and its name changed to “the Voice of Oklahoma.” The station produced Oklahoma’s first live broadcast of a football game in 1926, which pitted the University of Tulsa against Oklahoma A&M College. W. G. Skelly purchased the station in 1927 and moved it to Tulsa, where it became nationally known for many years with its 50,000 clear channel watts and western swing music.
Today Bristow has a population of nearly 5,000 people, the only commercial airport in Creek County, 26 churches and many industries.
Traveling west on Route 66 from Sapulpa, Bristow is the site of the National Wake Island War Memorial. The 320-acre park is just six blocks from the heart of downtown Bristow. The Railroad Depot now houses the Bristow Chamber of Commerce and the Bristow Historical Society Museum.
We invite you to come to Bristow for a visit, and while in town, stop by and see us at 910 South Roland. We’ll be happy to see you, and we’ll show you some great Crown Auto World Bristow bargains!
Updated 01-15-2005
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