Woodward Park

Founded in 1909 on land previously owned by Helen Woodward, this 34-acre municipal park sits in the heart of the Maple Ridge neighborhood. The rectilinear park is bisected by a meandering road, with open parkland and a small watercourse to the north and more formal gardens and the Tulsa Garden Center to the south. The northern portion of the park includes two rock gardens, which date to 1930 and feature masonry paths, benches, and bridges. These gardens are integrated with a man-made stream and waterfall constructed of local honeycombed limestone. More than 15,000 azaleas are planted in the upper rock garden, while mature oak and hickory trees dot the open park landscape. The formal rose garden, situated south of the road and designed in a terraced, Italian Renaissance style, was built with Works Progress Administration labor in 1935 and features over 250 varieties. This part of the park also contains the Tulsa Garden Center, the Linnaeus Teaching Garden (a botanical garden), an arboretum, and the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum headquartered in a historic mansion designed by local architect Noble Fleming in 1921. Woodward Park and the adjacent botanical and roase gardens are operated by the Tulsa Garden Center.