Woodward Park, Tulsa

Woodward Park in Tulsa is a nearly 45-acre public garden and cultural landmark just three miles from downtown, bordered by historic neighborhoods like Terwilleger Heights, Swan Lake, and Maple Ridge. Recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, the park showcases some of Tulsa’s finest landscape architecture from the early 20th century, including the 1919 Italian Renaissance-style Mansion at Woodward Park, designed by Noble B. Fleming and home to the Tulsa Garden Center since 1954.

The park's signature features are its gardens, particularly the Upper and Lower Rock Gardens and the Tulsa Rose Garden. Created in the 1930s through New Deal work-relief programs, these areas reflect both natural charm and formal design. The rock gardens, designed by Arthur S. Phillips and opened in 1932, are constructed from honeycombed limestone and include lily pools, grottoes, fairy circles, and winding paths, later enhanced with azaleas and sandstone terraces. The formal Rose Garden, designed by C. Burton Fox and built in 1934, evolved into a celebrated municipal rose garden thanks to the Tulsa Garden Club.

The Tulsa Garden Center played a pivotal role in shaping the park's evolution. After years of operation without a permanent home, the center finally moved into the former David R. Travis Mansion in 1954. The center now runs various educational and horticultural programs, including those at the Teaching Garden and Visitor Center, established in 2006 on the park’s southeast side. This area includes demonstration gardens, outdoor classrooms, a greenhouse, fountains, and seating areas, all designed to inspire sustainable home gardening.

Other notable features in the park include a historic cobblestone driveway, a brick carriage house, a glass conservatory by Lord & Burnham, and a sunken garden. The oldest structure in the park, a yellow pine barn from the Travis estate, now houses the Visitor Center and continues to support community learning and conservation efforts.