The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show you around the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

Did I mention they have the world’s tallest gas pump as well??

Museum History

The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum was founded by a group of Tulsa car enthusiasts spearheaded by Richard Holmes. He founded the advisory board in 2012. They searched high and low looking for a building to house vintage cars in Tulsa, but couldn’t find anything suitable.

The City of Sapulpa was informed of the group of “car guys” looking for a building for their museum and they offered them an opportunity to come look at the decommissioned armory in Sapulpa. The advisory board for the museum loved the space and changed their name from the ‘Tulsa Auto Museum’ to the ‘Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum.’

The 10,000 square foot building required a lot of work to make it into a museum. The main show room of cars is in the old drill hall because the three large garage doors make it easy to move the cars inside and out. Throughout the hall and other end of the building are other exhibitions with fascinating information about auto history and Tulsa history.

The Heart of Route 66 Museum officially opened its doors to the public in August 2016.

I know you want to see the fancy cars now so let’s take a look around!

Exhibitions

The exhibition below pays tribute to the museum building’s history and use with the 45th Army Reserve.

There are 34 cars currently on display according to the museum attendant I chatted with on the day I visited. She was polishing a car and performing upkeep which I thought was so cool! Various members of the museum have generously loaned their vintage cars for exhibition in the museum.

TRAVEL TIP: The museum offers rides in their 1922 Packard or 1922 Cadillac during the summer months! You can pick between a drive through downtown Sapulpa or a trip to Pretty Water Lake. The ride lasts about 20 minutes! I will definitely be going back to do this in the summer – how cool!

History of the Yield Sign

The first Yield Sign in the world was located on the corner of First Street and Columbia Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1950. This was considered one of the most dangerous intersections in Tulsa. A year later the accidents at this intersection had dropped dramatically due to the sign.

More Yield Signs were posted around Tulsa and word soon spread to other cities. Yield Signs began popping up across the United States.

World’s Tallest Gas Pump

The World’s Tallest Gas Pump sits outside the museum on Route 66! The gas pump itself is 66 feet tall in a nod to Route 66. The circle museum sign on top is an additional 14 feet tall.

The gas pump was finished in May 2018 and received the “Best New Attraction in Oklahoma” award.

Concluding Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum in Sapulpa, Oklahoma and will swing by the next time you’re driving down Route 66!

Happy traveling, friend! I’ll talk to ya soon!

Visit

13 Sahoma Lake Road

Sapulpa, OK 74066

Sources

Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum – website

“Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum” – Travel OK

“World’s Tallest Gas Pump: world record in Sapulpa, Oklahoma” – World record academy website