Sapulpa is the county seat for Creek County and is located in
northeast Oklahoma's Green Country. It occupies an area over which
six nations have flown their flags – Spain, France, England, Mexico,
the Choctaw Indian Nation, and the United States. The character
of Sapulpa was shaped by three historic factors – Indians, railroads
and oil.
Chief Sapulpa, the area's first permanent settler, was a full-blood lower
Creek Indian of the Kasihta Tribe in Osocheetown, Alabama. He arrived
in Indian Territory about 1850 and established a trading post near the
confluence of Polecat and Rock creeks (about one mile southeast of present
day downtown Sapulpa). When the Atlantic and Pacific railroad line extended
to the area in 1886, it was called “Sapulpa Station” in honor of Chief
Sapulpa who had befriended the railway workers.
The treaty of 1866 between the Creek Nation and the United
States provided for the establishment of post offices in the
territory. In 1889 a post office named Sapulpa was opened and
the town was incorporated in 1898. In 1905 the discovery of Glenn
Pool oilfield, six miles southeast of Sapulpa,
fostered the greatest period of growth.
The oil boom, the Frisco railroad, and the addition of two brick and
four glass plants all combined to transform Sapulpa from a sleepy little
village in Indian Territory to a bustling community of 20,000 by the
mid-1920s. Most of the buildings in downtown Sapulpa were erected during
this boom period. The work ethic passed down from those economic pioneers
has created a skilled and dedicated work force. Today, industry is diversified
with over 120 manufacturers employing approximately 5,000 workers. Today,
Sapulpa has a healthy population for a small mid-western city. There
is a strong middle class population known for its sense of community
pride and diversified workforce.
For more information
about Sapulpa,
please visit the Sapulpa Chamber of Commerce |