Tulsa Tours

Tulsa... unlikely cultural capital! This WSJ article begins by featuring our Architecture & Art Deco Tour. Also showcased are cultural icons like the Outsiders House, Buck Atom’s and Church Studio. Whether you’re local or just passing through, there’s plenty to do and the national media is taking note.

Story linked in comments, photo by Metcalf Media.

Most companies can’t say they have an in-house meteorologist on staff, but we can! Michael tracks Oklahoma’s mercurial weather on TV, but on days off his other superpower comes alive: tour guide extraordinaire!

Please wish this weatherman and history buff a happy 3-year touraversary! 👏

Beyond forecasting, Michael is a longtime volunteer with the Disaster Resilience Network. He also had a brush with Hollywood when set designers for Twisters consulted him for his tornado expertise 🌪️

Michael says every season has its perks. What’s your favorite season in Tulsa? ❄️🌸☀️🍂

Happy 3-year touraversary, Chrissy! 🎉

As a local and national stand-up comedian, Chrissy entertains guests with a mix of history and humor. She’s performed in 10 states and recently opened for Pauly Shore in Las Vegas.

When not guiding tunnel tours or gracing the comedy stage, Chrissy can be spotted brunching at Wildflower Cafe. Her go-to order is cheesy grits. She’s excited about their new location in the Cathedral District.

What's your favorite brunch spot? Chrissy's always looking for recommendations!

Congrats on 3 years, Chrissy! 👏✨

🏛️ Spring is here and so is our Art Deco Tour! 🌸

Tulsa is home to one of the finest concentrations of Art Deco architecture in the United States, a legacy born from the city's explosive oil boom of the 1920s. After the style debuted at a 1925 Paris exposition, Tulsa's oil financiers embraced it wholeheartedly and downtown was forever transformed.

Join Tulsa Tours every Friday and Saturday as we explore some of the crown jewels of the Deco District, including:

🔹 Tulsa Club Hotel (1927) Originally built as the social epicenter for Tulsa's high society, this landmark is where the Zigzag Art Deco style first arrived in the city.

🔹 Philcade Building (1931) A 13-story masterpiece of brick and terra cotta, with an interior lobby featuring bronze chandeliers, gold-leaf ceilings, and geometric designs in brilliant color.

🔹 Pythian Building (1930) Its cream terra cotta facade with zigzag chevrons and a colorful roofline is one of downtown's most captivating sights, and the story behind it is just as remarkable.

🔹 PSO Building (1929) A striking example of how even utility companies caught the Deco fever, constructing bold, geometric headquarters that have since been reimagined as residential lofts.
..and many more stops along the way! Every building tells a story of ambition, oil wealth, and architectural artistry. Come hear them all.

📅 Friday & Saturday, March-December
🎟 Ticket link in the comments

Early Tulsa power wasn’t just oilmen. Meet Lilah Denton Lindsey (1860–1943), a Muscogee (Creek) educator and civic leader whose influence ran through classrooms, reform networks, and local government.

Educated at Tullahassee Mission School, she earned a college degree in 1883, often cited as the first Creek woman to do so, and later taught in mission settings and in Tulsa, writing thoughtfully about how children learn.

In Tulsa she helped organize the Woman’s Relief Corps (1898) and became a charter member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1902), using these organizations to build services and push public health reforms. Accounts also credit her with urging city leaders to appoint a police matron, a concrete step to protect women and girls in the justice system.

During World War I she led the women’s division of the Tulsa County Council of Defense, and she later entered politics, including a run for office in 1922. Her record shows how Indigenous women helped shape Tulsa’s civic development in the early statehood era.

Photo(s) courtesy of the Museum of Tulsa History, Tulsa County Library, Beryl Ford Collection
*Portrait of Lilah Lindsey
**At the home of Mrs. Samuel C. Davis, a reception was held in honor of Lillian M. N. Stevens, National President of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and Anna Gordon, the organization’s national vice president. The event was hosted by the Tulsa WCTU under the leadership of its president, Lilah Lindsey.

On our tunnel tour we talk about someone fascinating who people have never heard of: Josh Cosden aka the Prince of Petroleum.

At his peak, this oil tycoon was one of the richest men in Tulsa and in the entire nation. To reflect his towering status, he built the Cosden Building at 4th and Boston, which soared 16 stories and was the Tulsa's first skyscraper. Six decades later, the building grew to 36 stories and became known as the Mid-Continent Building, a lasting legacy for a forgotten legend.

Photo(s) courtesy of Tulsa County Library, Beryl Ford Collection

Happy Touraversery, Derek! 🎉

Derek is celebrating two years with Tulsa Tours, and he's spent that time proving that Tulsa is anything but boring.

He guides our tunnel tours, and his favorite story to tell? Joshua Cosden - the "Prince of Petroleum" and "Rubberband Millionaire." (Yes, that's a real nickname, and yes, there's a great story behind it.)

Derek's a natural storyteller and a welcoming guide who makes guests feel right at home. He loves showing visitors there's thrilling history around every corner and plenty to do in town once the tour ends.

Outside of tours, you'll find Derek exploring the Gathering Place with his family or enjoying a classic film under the stars at the Admiral Twin Drive-In. His family has a big goal: visiting every state park together, and so far, Sequoyah State Park tops his list of favorites.

Cheers to two years on the sidewalks and in the tunnels, Derek! 👏
Tag someone who needs to experience a tunnel tour!

Happy Touraversery, Becki! 🎉

Two years ago this month, Becki gave her first tunnel tour. Since then, she's:
✨ Mastered our Art Deco Tour
✨ Launched the True Crime + Haunted History tour
✨ Shattered her own record by giving 112 tours in 2025

If you've ever been on a tour with Becki, you already know: she loves Tulsa, and it shows.

When she's not guiding tours, you'll find her hiking Turkey Mountain, brunching downtown, wandering museums, or digging up the next fascinating piece of Tulsa history to share with all of us.

Cheers to another year, Becki! 🥂

Drop a 💛 in the comments if you've been on one of Becki's tours!

Did you know the Barbershop Harmony Society started in Tulsa?

Back then it was called the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), which is a very long name for what was, honestly, a pretty spontaneous evening where 26 men gathered in song.

On April 11, 1938, Owen Clifton Cash invited a small group of singers to the Tulsa Club’s “Roof Garden.” He mailed 14 invitations. Twenty-six men showed up.
They sang for hours, breaking into quartets and harmonizing to the old vaudeville favorites. The only problem? They were so loud that Tulsa Club members downstairs complained, and the group got politely kicked out.

So they met again the next week at the Hotel Tulsa and suddenly the crowd jumped to 70 men. By the end of May, it kept growing, with 75 to 150 showing up each week.
They eventually found their home at the Alvin Plaza Hotel (7th & Main), where they became known as the Tulsa #1 Chapter and met for 37 years.

A national music movement, born in Tulsa… all because a rooftop singalong got a little too loud. 🎶