The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show you around the Outsides House Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tulsa author, S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders (1967) about a handful of young kids from rival gangs who live a hard life and had to learn many lessons. I remember reading this book and watching the the movie for the first time in junior high. I thought it was cool S.E. Hinton was from Oklahoma. Let’s go look around!

Museum History

This home was used in the film The Outsiders (1983) produced by Francis Ford Coppola.

The cast included Matt Dillion, Ralph Macho, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, and more.

After the movie was filmed, the house fell into disrepair. The city of Tulsa wanted to demolish the house due to poor condition.

In 2016, the home was purchased by Danny Boy O’Connor. He was a fan of the book and movie and didn’t want the home to be torn down. He wanted to preserve it for future generations who would love the story like he did. The house was torn down to the studs and completely redone to resemble the original movie set. He also brought in his collection of memorabilia from the movie. Additionally, The museum was gifted two collections of images from filming during the movie. David Burnett and Nancy Moran captured behind-the-scenes of the actors, Coppola, and Hinton during the filming of the movie.

The project was completed by dedicated volunteers who gave money and time to the renovations. The museum opened to the public in August 2019.

Photos Inside the House

I have included some photos from the inside of the house below. There are various pictures from filming, costumes, signs, and more spread throughout the house!

Concluding Thoughts

This was an interesting museum to visit. If you’re a fan of the book and movie then I would definitely stop whenever you’re in Tulsa. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I hope you’ll check them out.

The museum volunteers also told me about several film locations that were up the street. I didn’t have time to stop because I was in Tulsa for work, but did see there is a map of the locations on their website if you are interested in learning more.

Happy Traveling, friend! I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂

Visit

731 N St. Louis Ave

Tulsa, OK 74106

Sources

The Outsiders House Museum – Website