The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show you around the USA BMX Hall of Fame & Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Let’s get started!

History

Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racing was invented around 1969 in Southern California. Kids began modifying their bicycles to look more like motorcycles and were performing tricks in vacant lots.

Bruce Brown captured some footage of people doing tricks in 1971 and this is the first known recorded footage. This footage was played at the beginning of Brown’s film about motorcycles. Soon, people everywhere wanted to give it a try!

The American Bicycle Association (ABA) formed a governing body to create rules for the new sport. They wanted a level playing field at the quarter, semi, and main events.

The National Bicycle League (NBL) was another organization that operated tracks and races.

In 2011, the ABA bought the NBL and they reorganized under the USA BMX umbrella. There are currently over 70,000 USA BMX members.

In February 2022, the USA BMX National Headquarters and Hall of Fame & Museum opened in Tulsa. Previously, a lot of the items on display had been in California.

Now, let’s look around inside the museum!

Photos Inside the Museum

Concluding Thoughts

I didn’t know anything about BMX before I visited this museum. I learned a lot about the sport and enjoyed the tour with museum curator, Craig “g0rk” Barrette. He was super knowledgeable and broke down the complex bike mechanics into a format that I understood! I would recommend checking this museum out if you’re in Tulsa. You might learn something just like I did!

Happy traveling! I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂

Visit

490 N Lansing Ave.

Tulsa, OK 74120

Sources

USA BMX – Website

Museum Panels

Museum Tour with curator “g0rk”