The Tulsa Route 66 Main Street organization wants to restore historic buildings in the Red Fork District in southwest Tulsa before Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
The Red Fork neighborhood runs south of the Arkansas River and ends at 33rd West Avenue, with Route 66 right in the middle.
News on 6 in Tulsa reports:
One of those includes a storefront dating back to the 1930s, which was the former site of the Eldorado Bar.
The long-term goal is to bring back the original architecture used during that time.
Owners of the site who are from Red Fork are using historic pictures to help and hope it can all be done by the Route 66 Centennial Celebration.
“We would like to see the revitalization of those stores and to keep those old buildings and not let them be destroyed or erased. That’s the purpose is to try and keep them alive,” said Sandi Dittmann, the President of Tulsa Route 66 Main Street.
The Oak Country Club will host a Tulsa Route 66 Main Street fundraiser on Nov. 10.
Red Fork was the name of the town when it was established in the 1880s. It became a boomtown with the discovery of oil there, but Tulsa was more successful in attracting people and investors.
It annexed Red Fork into the city in 1927, shortly after U.S. 66 was created.
(1940s image from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation of the Red Fork District in Tulsa via 66Postcards.org)