Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  New Tulsa

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

NEW TULSA.

Located on Tulsa's outskirts on Sixty-first Street, New Tulsa lies in Wagoner County five miles east of the Tulsa-Wagoner county line. In 1966 the town incorporated as Oak Grove but changed its name to New Tulsa one year later. Cal Tinney spearheaded the incorporation movement in order to protect the area from annexation by its neighbors. The 1970 population stood at seventeen. The Oak Grove community can trace its roots to the beginning of the twentieth century. A church, a school, and a general store served the dispersed rural community. The store continued to operate until 1975 and was housed in the same building from 1946.

After the town's initial municipal elections, it annexed approximately forty acres and then fell dormant. Nevertheless, it accumulated its monthly gas-tax collection payments from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. In 1984 a state senator threatened to dissolve the town, prompting residents to hold another election in 1986. Spending the accumulated $26,000 was the main issue. By 1980 New Tulsa had grown to 252 residents and climbed to 272 in 1990. In 1998 it unsuccessfully attempted to annex nine subdivisions, which would have greatly increased its population. In 2000 there were 568 residents. In 2001 the citizens voted to cancel New Tulsa's incorporation. No 2010 census statistics were recorded. The 2020 census did not report on New Tulsa.

Larry O'Dell

Browse By Topic

Urban Development

Explore

Place
Town

Learn More

Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), 26 August 1966 and 4 July 1978.

Tulsa (Oklahoma) Tribune, 2 December 1972, 13 February 1984, and 13 November 1986.

Tulsa (Oklahoma) World, 12 and 13 November 1986 and 25 July 1998.

Wagoner County History (Wagoner, Okla.: Wagoner County Extension Homemakers Council, 1980).

Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Larry O'Dell, “New Tulsa,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=NE009.

Published January 15, 2010
Last updated February 7, 2024

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.