Orcutt Airdrome
1573 Swan Lake Drive,
Tulsa,
OK
74120
1573 Swan Lake Drive,
Tulsa,
OK
74120
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Dating back to at least 1910, Samual Orcutt built (Tulsa’s first amusement park) Orcutt Park around a heavily wooded, natural pond. Included in his thrill park were a cafe, concession stands, dance pavilion, roller coaster, a hand carved wooden carousel, swimming beach, paddle boats, and an airdrome.
Orcutt Airdrome showcased lecturers, vaudeville, circus acts, and on Sunday morning evangelists warned of the horrors of caprice entertainment.
After twilight stage performances wrapped up, movies were occasionally shown at no additonal admission charge. It was closed in 1917.
Though Orcutt Amusment Park is now only a nostalgic memory, the beautiful lake still exist, today known as Swan Lake.
Contributed by
Seymour Cox
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
By 1917 real estate this amusement park occupied became much too valuable for only seasonal use. Soon after Orcutt Park was dismantled up scale Mission and Craftsman style homes were built around the romantic lake.
Main entrance c1910 …
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Lake view…
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Photo left can be seen rustic stage house of airdrome …
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Modern day look of Swan Lake with complete history …
http://bestoftulsa.com/landmarks/swan_lake.shtml
Exact operation dates were 1910 – 1917, and the address was –
Orcutt Airdrome
1573 Swan Lake Drive
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120
Captivating Swan Lake photos can be seen here -
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Other informative Tulsa sites are found below,
Clark Theatre & Heller Theatre -
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A brief Orcutt description is written here.
Check out Casa Bonita Restaurant too. Though not a cinema (it did show cartoons in the kiddy arcade) Casa Bonita took its cue from atmospheric theatre desingers. Beneath a violet plaster sky with twinkling electronic stars and Brenograph pink clouds was a complete romanticed Mexican village, and the food was good too!
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Haven’t yet found good Casa Bonita interior photo, but will keep searching.
A long standing rumor has it that some of the ornate trim, statuary, and lighting fixtures inside Casa Bonita came from the downtown Ritz Theatre. Better images can be seen here …
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and …
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Didn’t they also use some of the Orpheum fixtures too?
I have a beautiful large ornate metal fixture from Casa Bonita, it is approximately 6' x 12' painted gold. I didn’t realize all the potential history of this piece. I’ll try to upload a photo this week. By the way I love reading all the articles on our history!