Oklahoma Journeys
Week of May 17, 2008
Turner Turnpike Officially opens as a Toll Road, May 17, 1953
This week on Oklahoma Journeys, a change in transportation takes a toll from the state. Today most of us, it seems, take our roads and highways for granted. But Oklahoma didn’t always have the large network of roads that it does today. This week marks the anniversary of a big change for Oklahoma’s highway system, and that’s the topic of this week’s Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.
From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
Most of us don’t think much about how we’re going to get to where we’re going, we just hop in the car and take the quickest route to our destination. But such convenience wasn’t always available to most Oklahomans. Roads in the early days of statehood, especially in the western half of the state, were poor if they existed at all. Although paving and concrete roads were in use by the 1920s they weren’t common, and it wasn’t until after World War Two that actual modern highway development occurred. The movement was spurred by soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower who theorized that one of the best defenses the United States could have in the event of a war with the Soviet Union was a well-planned interstate highway system. Interstates were laid out in order to facilitate easy troop movement from state to state and to better evacuate large cities. Highway ramps leading out were made wide and visible. To impede any invading Communists, off ramps into cities were fewer in number and were usually narrow with sharp turns to slow down incoming enemy traffic. Slowly across the entire country a comprehensive system of state and interstate highways began to emerge.
It was in this week of 1953 that Oklahoma made a big leap in its transportation system with the official opening of the state’s first toll road, the Turner Turnpike, connecting Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The Turner Turnpike took almost six years and 38 million dollars to complete and, according to newspaper reports, was eagerly anticipated. Opening day ceremonies took place on Saturday beginning at 9:00am in Tulsa and Oklahoma City with dignitaries and crowds meeting in the middle at Stroud for the big opening event. Politicians were on hand, and Governor Murray opened the event with a speech followed by a procession of Indian Princesses and a Parade of Progress highlighting various forms of transportation used in Oklahoma over the years.
Three different aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang, flew the length of the turnpike, buzzing the crowds and apparently dropping aerial bombs of celebration. The planes made the entire 88-mile route in under eight minutes while a horse drawn covered wagon finished the turnpike journey in a little under five days. At three o’clock on Saturday the 16th, 1953, the gates closed at the toll roads, and operators began charging $1.40, the amount that it would cost to drive the entire route. Ray Willhoite of Tulsa was noted as taking toll ticket number one.
You can see the original Turner Turnpike Toll Gate from the Oklahoma City end of the turnpike on display in one of the galleries at the Oklahoma History Center, located on NE 23rd Street, just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to the collection, preservation and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.