Bartlesville

Strike it big with a visit to the city built on black gold! Now an epicenter of culture in northeast Oklahoma, Bartlesville was the home of the Phillips Petroleum Company and has been closely tied to the oil industry since 1905. Learn about the city’s rich oil history with a visit to Phillips Petroleum Company Museum, the Frank Phillips Home or Johnstone Park where a reconstruction of the first commercial oil well in Oklahoma, dubbed the Nellie Johnstone, is located.

Spend a day touring the acclaimed Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve which lies in the beautiful Osage Hills between Bartlesville and Pawhuska. The sprawling Woolaroc was once a working ranch and hunting getaway owned by Frank Phillips. Here you can spot a free-roaming bison herd alongside Longhorn cattle and a plethora of other exotic animals including ostriches as you drive through the wildlife preserve. Then head inside the 50,000-square-foot museum to gaze at the world-class collection of Western and Native American art. The grounds also feature the oil baron’s rustic, yet splendid, hunting lodge built in 1925 as an escape from the pressures of his corporate world.

No visit to Bartlesville is complete without experiencing Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower & Price Tower Arts Center. Here, you’ll find the renowned architect’s only fully-realized skyscraper, which houses an art gallery, an inn and the chic Price Tower Plaza restaurant where you can enjoy outdoors dining in downtown Bartlesville.

Time your visit to Bartlesville during one of their annual events for a special treat. Each June, the week-long OKM Music Festival showcases a variety of regional and international musical talents on stages throughout the city. Known as Oklahoma’s largest outdoor picnic, Sunfest is another summertime favorite filled with food, music and vendors. Visit in September to catch the Cow Thieves and Outlaws Reunion at Woolaroc or ring in the New Year with the famous “Olive Drop” at Price Tower.