You are standing at 112 North Greenwood. This is where the commercial part of the Greenwood District started. It is where a boarding house that would eventually become the Gurley Hotel once stood. It was owned by and named after the visionary founder of Black Wall Street, Ottawa Gurley, better known simply as “O.W.” Gurley.

O.W. Gurley was a man with a vision and a plan. His strategy involved creating a place where Black citizens could support each other, live without fear, and pursue their social, political, and economic dreams.

Realizing early the potential of a boomtown like Tulsa, O.W. purchased land north of the Frisco railroad tracks, including part of what would become the “Deep Greenwood” commercial district. In 1906, he built a boarding house at this location along with a grocery store at the corner of Greenwood and Archer. And with that, the “Negro Wall Street of America” — later simply “Black Wall Street” — was born.

Along with fellow businessman J. B. Stradford, Gurley would not just be a founder of Black Wall Street, but one of the architects of its phenomenal success.

Gurley and Stradford purchased and plotted land in the immediate neighborhood to sell or lease it to Black residents and business owners. This commitment made a dedicated Black district possible. Their partnership rested on the belief that Black Americans’ best chance for success was to pool their resources.

As the local population boomed, Gurley became a serial entrepreneur on a grand scale, with ventures that included textile, tapestry, and furniture enterprises. Unwilling to keep opportunity to himself, Gurley personally provided loans to other Black entrepreneurs to help them get started — a crucial gesture in an era when access to capital was severely restricted. His willingness to take risks and support others fueled Greenwood’s rapid growth.

It was here, at the entrance to his hotel on the morning of June 1, 1921, that O.W. Gurley saw the faces and heard the threats of those who would destroy all he had built.

He later testified under oath that white rioters appeared at his hotel that morning wearing khaki suits. They warned him to remove his guests, declaring they were going to burn everything. The mob battered the doors of the hotel’s pool hall and restaurant as people fled, leaving possessions behind. Gurley recalled heavy gunfire coming from a nearby grain elevator, including machine-gun fire directed down Greenwood Avenue. As panic spread, people stampeded down the stairways to the street.

Gurley lost a fortune that day and never recovered it. His hotel and other buildings in Deep Greenwood were destroyed. He and his wife were forced to hide in the basement of their home as it burned. By his own estimate, Gurley lost $200,000 — a staggering sum in 1921.

Gurley chose not to rebuild. He spent his final years in obscurity in Los Angeles. Before leaving Tulsa, he fought one last battle for Black Wall Street, challenging the illegal and deceitful transfer of property deeds after the massacre. He resisted white land speculators and encouraged Greenwood landowners to hold their ground. Largely because of these efforts, it became a point of pride in the Greenwood District to resist exploitation. Black Wall Street would re-emerge and thrive once again as a Black-owned and Black-operated community.

For the next stop on the tour, move just a few steps south to the next tour marker.