Red Fork Apartments for Rent

Red Fork is a historic West Tulsa neighborhood. Although it once had a rough and tumble reputation as an oil town, it is actually a peaceful, productive community near steep Lookout Mountain and Interstate 244, which follows the path of the old Route 66.

Red Fork was originally a railroad terminus where ranchers brought their herds to be shipped east. It was named for the reddish waters of a nearby river, though whether the river was the Cimarron or the Arkansas is disputed.

The town faded as the railroad lines expanded to the west, shortening the length of cattle drives. Red Fork might have become a ghost town, if not for an oil strike in 1901, the first producing well in Tulsa County. By 1902, the boom town was incorporated and growing. In 1923 though, with oil revenues declining, Tulsa annexed Red Fork.

The freeway divides the old town. On the northwest side of it, Red Fork runs from the highway to the feet of steep mountains. It includes the neighborhood called Red Fork/Park Grove. On the southeast is the part of the old Red Fork community, often called ParkValley/Red Fork, as well as the Carbondale subdivision. This part of Red Fork runs from the east side of I-244 to Route 75 and is bounded by Interstate 44 on the south.

The homes in the nearly rural town of Red Fork are mostly small single-family houses, set among wooded lots with views of the mountains. The few apartment buildings are mostly found east of the Interstate, in the more built-up areas closer to metropolitan Tulsa.