504 E. Archer (at Greenwood)

Before this building was constructed, Greenwood was the main commercial street in Tulsa’s African-American community, with thriving commerce and dense construction that led Booker T. Washington to call it “The Black Wall Street.” Archer roughly divided black and white Tulsa, and the intersection of Archer and Greenwood stood at the center of a tragic racial conflict. On June 1st, 1921, an armed mob torched a 36-block area, killed Black Americans, and drove more than 1,000 African American residents out through fire and mob violence. The area later rebuilt, and its legacy endured in popular culture: Bob Wills sang of getting off at Archer and walking down to Greenwood in “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” regularly performed at Cain's Ballroom on Main Street nearby, and the GAP Band later took its name from Greenwood, Archer, and Pine Streets.

Tulsa, Oklahoma · United States