The Sooner You Know: 51 Facts About Oklahoma

Oklahoma isn’t just a Broadway play! The moment you step foot in the Sooner State, you’re greeted by a landscape so diverse it feels like you’re traveling through multiple worlds that feature rolling prairies, majestic mountains, and shimmering lakes — all in one state! The people are warm, the history is rich, and every corner of the Oklahoma has its own story to tell. Whether you’re marveling at the beauty of the Wichita Mountains, driving along the historic Route 66, or soaking in the charm of its vibrant cities, Oklahoma leaves an impression that’s hard to forget. Here are 51 reasons why this extraordinary state is a must-visit destination!

What is Oklahoma known for?

1. That musical! The iconic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! is named after the state and celebrates its culture thru song. The title track in particular is a lively and rousing anthem that professes its love for Oklahoma, and the lyrics even teaches the more illiterate members of the audience how to spell the name of the state. The play made its Broadway debut in 1943 and was immediately so popular and influential and beloved that the state made “Oklahoma!” the official state song in 1953.

2. Route 66! If you’ve taken a road trip out west at any point in the last 100 years, you may have traveled on some of the 2,448 miles of U.S. Route 66, perhaps the most famous route in the country. About 432 of those miles are thru Oklahoma, and you’ll find many many monuments and museums commemorating this in towns like Elk City and Clinton and Claremore, among others.

3. Oklahoma is also known for their relationship to Native American heritage. In fact, its name is derived from the Choctaw, where “okla” is people and “humma” means, um, red. There are no less than 38 federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma, more than anyone except Alaska and California, with the Cherokee Nation and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma being the two biggest.

Early history of Oklahoma facts

4. As the oldest known painted object in North America, the Cooper Bison Skull is an incredible artifact. Dating back some 10,000 years ago, the skull was discovered in Harper County, Oklahoma. It’s mind-blowing to think that ancient humans painted this skull over 10,000 years ago, marking it with red ochre in a way that still sparks fascination today.

5. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was a Spanish explorer and he was the first European to explore present-day Oklahoma in 1541. For over two hundred goddam years until 1682, Oklahoma belonged to Spain, which means Oklahoma was a part of Spain longer than it’s been a state. Wild, huh?

6. In 1682, France claimed Oklahoma when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle explored the Mississippi River and claimed the surrounding areas for France, naming the territory Louisiana.

7. In 1763, Spain regained control of present-day Oklahoma at the end of the French and Indian War when France was forced to cede the territory to the British as part of the Treaty of Paris. However, the transfer to Spain wasn’t publicly announced until 1764.

8. In 1803, the United States acquired 828,000 square miles of land — including Oklahoma — as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

9. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state to join the Union.

What famous people are from Oklahoma?

10. Chuck Norris is an American martial artist, actor, and cultural icon that is best known for his roles in action films and the television series Walker, Texas Ranger. With a reputation for toughness and unyielding strength, Norris has become a pop culture phenomenon who has inspired countless “Chuck Norris facts” and memes that exaggerate his abilities in humorous ways. He was born in Ryan, Oklahoma.

11. Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer known for her work on Broadway, television, and film. She gained widespread fame for her role as Glinda in the original Broadway production of Wicked, earning a Tony Award nomination. She was born July 24, 1968 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

12. Star of such classic films like The Mexican, Allied, and Burn After Reading, Brad Pitt is one of the most popular and successful American actors of the 21st century. He was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma on December 18, 1963.

13. Quite a few baseball Hall of Famers were born in Oklahoma, including Mickey Mantle (Spavinaw), Johnny Bench (Oklahoma City), and Willie Stargell (Earlsboro).

14. Ralph Ellison was a Black writer who is probably best known for his novel Invisible Man, an indisputable classic that explores the experiences of an unnamed Black narrator who feels socially invisible due to the systemic racism and prejudice he faces in early 20th-century America. He was born Ralph Waldo Ellison on March 1, 1913 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

15. One of the most significant singer-songwriters in the history of folk music — and popular music as a whole — is Woody Guthrie, the anti-fascist composer of “This Land Is Your Land” that majorly influenced influential artists like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash, and Bruce Springsteen. He was born Woodrow Wilson Guthrie on July 14, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma.

16. Country music star Garth Brooks has sold like over 170 million records and is one of the most popular recording performers in the history of entertainment. He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

17. John Berryman is one of the most significant American poets of the 20th century and won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 77 Dream Songs. He was born October 25, 1914 in McAlester, Oklahoma.

18. As producer, writer, director, and star of Barry, Bill Hader has bagged no less than eight (8) Emmy Award nominations for his work. He was born June 7, 1978 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

19. Rue McClanahan won an Emmy for her performance in the eternally beloved sitcom The Golden Girls in 1987. She was born February 21, 1934 in Healdton, Oklahoma and attended the University of Tulsa.

20. Will Rogers was a vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator, and actor known for his witty and insightful observations on American life who once said “I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat.” He also famously said “I never met a man I didn’t like,” and was one of the most beloved entertainers of his day. He was born November 4, 1879 in Oologah, Oklahoma, when it was still in the Indian Territory.

What are the state symbols of Oklahoma?

21. Strawberries! O, how sweetly dost thou grace the tongue, fair strawberry, with nectar fit for gods! Yes, just like Delaware, Louisiana, and North Carolina, the delicious and humble berry is the state fruit of Oklahoma, and was designated as such in 2005.

22. In 1988, Oklahoma designated an official state meal and in its full that contains barbecued pork, biscuits, black-eyed peas, chicken fried steak, corn, cornbread, fried okra, grits, pecan pie, sausage and gravy, squash, and of course, strawberries, the state fruit.

23. Oklahoma named the fiddle their official state musical instrument in 1984, and in 1993, they named the drum as their state percussive musical instrument.

24. You may have heard some tell about how milk is supposed to do a body good. We’ll leave the health talk to the scientists, but in the meantime, it’s also a state symbol for a whopping 20 states! Yep, Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and of course, Wisconsin, all decided milk deserved a little extra love. Apparently, in these states, milk isn’t just for your cereal — it’s basically state symbol royalty.

25. Ribbet ribbet, mfs! The bullfrog is the biggest frog you can find native to North America and Oklahoma made it the official state amphibian in 1997. Missouri and Ohio also have this lil guy as a state symbol.

26. Oklahoma has an official dance and it’s none other than the square dance, the same one many an American child was forced to learn in gym class in public education schools all across the country. It also happens to be the official dance of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, and Connecticut, as well as Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Missouri. And Nebraska, North Dakota, and Oregon, as well as Tennessee and Texas. And Utah. And Virginia. And also Washington state. It’s also the official folk dance of California, New Jersey, and South Carolina. 

27. Acrocanthosaurus atokensis was a dinosaur that inhabited the southern United States like 120 million years ago during the Middle Cretaceous times. Bones were found by paleontologists in Atoka County, Oklahoma in the 1940s, and they made the lil guy the official state dinosaur in 2006. A few years earlier in 2000, Oklahoma designated the Saurophaganax Maximus as their official state fossil and believe it or not, this mf was bigger than T-rex.

28. Our friend the white-tailed deer was named the official game animal of Oklahoma in 1990. Our friend is also a state symbol for Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

Topography & geography of Oklahoma

29. The capital of Oklahoma (and its largest city) is none other than Oklahoma City! Before 1910, tho, the capital was Guthrie.

30. In addition to Oklahoma City, other well-known cities in the state include Tulsa, Norman, Stillwater, and Broken Arrow.

31. Oklahoma City could be seen as a pretty convenient stop in the almost exact middle point of the country, as it’s kinda sorta equidistant to New York City, New York (1,447 miles) as it is to Los Angeles, California (1,327).

32. For such a landlocked state, Oklahoma has a surprising 56,000 miles of shorelines outlining its lakes and ponds, and that’s not counting the 167,000 miles of rivers flowing thru the state.

33. At 69 thousand (heh heh) and 699 total square miles, Oklahoma is the 20th biggest state.

34. Driving the length of Oklahoma would take you 468 miles, and driving the width would be 230 miles.

35. Black Mesa in the Oklahoma panhandle is the highest point in the state at 4,975 feet above sea level.

36. The lowest point in Oklahoma state is Little River at the border of Arkansas, a mere 289 feet above sea level.

37. Oklahoma borders Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Colorado.

38. There are exactly 77 counties in Oklahoma. Visit all of them today!

Where should I visit in Oklahoma?

39. You can find the 76-foot-tall Golden Driller state monument in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Completed in 1953, this steel and concrete structure commemorates the state’s relationship to the oil industry and the local legislature designated the Golden Driller as the official state momument in 1979.

40. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has what is considered the largest and best collection of Chihuly glass, the glass-bowing genre created by the brilliant artist Dale Chihuly. Their collection also features works from artists like John Singleton Copley, Elizabeth Terrell, Pedro López Cervántez, and John Sloan.

41. The American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City is the place to be for anyone who loves the banjo. The collection shows off more than 400 examples of the instrument — supposedly the largest in the world — as well as plenty of recordings and materials demonstrating the history of the banjo and its relationship to the last 150 years of popular music.

42. There is a town in Oklahoma called Paul’s Valley and in that town is the Toy & Action Figure Museum. The space is a dream for toy collectors — as well as those who play with toys — with favorites like Star Wars, He-man, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, and plenty of other action figures that are sure to induce nostalgia and trips down memory lane.

43. The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City has the largest privately-held collection of osteological specimens in the world, with like 7,000 examples that are not even on display. For display, tho, are more than 450 skeletons, including a Komodo dragon and humpback whale.

44. The Myriad Botanical Gardens is 15 gorgeous acres of gorgeous flora in downtown Oklahoma City, with a vintage carousel, ornamental gardens, and even an outdoor ice skating rink that’s open in the winter. A beautiful respite from all that crazy hustle-and-bustle fast-paced scene of OKC!

Fun, cool, interesting & weird Oklahoma facts

45. Tornado Alley is a term that a bunch of tornado scientists came up with while studying the severe weather of the American Midwest. While there is no formal boundaries that make up Tornado Alley and the term can be used rather loosely, pretty much the entirety of the state of Oklahoma is more or less located within Tornado Alley, and as you may have guessed, the state sees tons of tornados blowing by.

46. The very first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935, and drivers have had a much harder search for free parking ever since.

47. The reason Oklahoma is known as the Sooner State is because a whole bunch of settlers rushed to claim land for their own before the option to settle on the land was officially open. Since they were so excited that they arrived in Oklahoma sooner than they were actually allowed, the state eventually became known as Sooners.

48. The shopping cart was invented by this businessdude named Sylvan Goodman who was in the wholesale food and grocery industry, and he introduced the humble device in 1937 in one of his supermarkets in Oklahoma City.

49. The Oklahoma Game & Fish code is pretty clear about it being against the law to hunt or kill any endangered species. This means that despite being a totally landlocked state, whaling is totally illegal to do in Oklahoma. Moby Dick could not have taken place there.

50. Oklahoma resident Katie Francis is perhaps the most successful Girl Scout cookie salesperson who ever Girl Scouted, selling 44,200 boxes(!) in 2020 alone, which only like 25% of the 180,000 boxes she’s sold lifetime.

51. The Flaming Lips are from Oklahoma, and they’re unquestionably one of the weirdest rock-n-roll bands to ever have mainstream and widespread success. In 2009, their popularity even reached a height no band like them when “Do You Realize??” was announced as the official state rock song of Oklahoma. However, the Oklahoma GOP thought the Lips too commie and potty-mouthed, and the designated was removed in 2013.

Image Credit: Image by Mike from Pixabay

*****This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thank you for reading Content Bash!*****