Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

Woolaroc was created by Phillips Petroleum founder Frank Phillips as a ranch retreat southwest of Bartlesville and later developed into one of Oklahoma's most distinctive museums and wildlife preserves. The name combines woods, lakes and rocks, reflecting the natural setting Phillips wanted for the property. The museum houses an eclectic collection of Western art, Native material, firearms, historical objects and petroleum-era memorabilia. One of its best-known pieces is the Woolaroc airplane, associated with the 1927 Dole Air Race from California to Hawaii. The surrounding preserve is home to bison, longhorn cattle and other animals that visitors often see while driving into the property. Woolaroc is difficult to classify because it is part ranch, part art museum, part Western history collection and part wildlife preserve. That variety is exactly what makes it memorable. Combined with the Frank Phillips Home and Bartlesville's oil architecture, it gives visitors a broad picture of the wealth, tastes and public legacy of one of Oklahoma's major petroleum figures.