Greenwood Rising - Where Black Wall Street Began

A stop on Greenwood: Tulsa's Black Wall Street, a free self-guided tour.

You're standing at Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street, once the busiest corner of Black Tulsa. In 1906 O.W. Gurley, a Black landowner and businessman, bought land here and sold lots to Black families shut out of the rest of segregated Tulsa. Others followed, including J.B. Stradford, who built a hotel up the street. By 1921 about 10,000 people lived in Greenwood, supporting grocers, barbers, doctors, lawyers, theaters, hotels and a newspaper.

The district became known as Black Wall Street. The nickname is often credited to Booker T. Washington, but that story is hard to pin down, so treat it as tradition rather than fact.

Greenwood Rising, the history center beside you, opened in 2021 for the centennial of the massacre. Inside, Greenwood's story is told largely through the voices of the people who lived it, from the early boom to the destruction and the long fight for justice. Check its website for hours before you go in.

Getting here: Start outside Greenwood Rising at the corner of North Greenwood Avenue and East Archer Street.

Did you know?: The funk group the Gap Band took its name from three streets of this neighborhood: Greenwood, Archer and Pine.

Photo op: Stand across the corner and frame Greenwood Rising with the Greenwood Avenue street sign in view.

More on Wikipedia: Greenwood District, Tulsa · O.W. Gurley · Booker T. Washington

Greenwood Rising - Where Black Wall Street Began

Stops on this tour