It’s all big in Warren County
Some perhaps overlooked areas are hoping new claims to fame will help attract more visitors in the highly competitive tourist market.
Maybe you have never heard of Warren County, but perhaps you should, considering that it claims to be “Ohio’s Largest Playground.” It has 17 of the largest attractions, events and activities in the world, nation or the region, according Warren County tourism officials.
They include:
The largest animatronic dinosaur park in the world, the largest and oldest triathlon of its type in the US, the largest summer pro tennis tournament outside the US Open in New York, the largest horse drawn carriage parade in the US, The largest dinner theatre in Ohio, and the largest collection of Christmas tree ornaments in Ohio (at the general Store and Christmas Shop).
Tourism, naturally, is the county’s biggest industry.
Then, there’s the State of Oklahoma where CVB types are saying it has a lot of what you might not have thought much about. That is, it ranks high in “first, best and only.”
For example, they say:
—The only skyscraper solely designed by and built by Frank Lloyd Wright is Price Tower in Bartlesville. It is also the only one of Wright’s structures where you can book a hotel stay.
—The world’s largest gypsum cave open to the public is located at Alabaster Caverns State Park near Freedom. The world’s largest single deposit of pure alabaster also is found in this park.
—The largest contiguous district on the National Register of Historic Places is in Guthrie, extending 1,400 acres and 400 city blocks and containing 2,169 buildings. Guthrie has also been named one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
—From forests to sand dunes to rolling prairies to cypress swamps, Oklahoma has more diverse terrain per square mile than any other state.
—Despite its Dust Bowl image, Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state in the nation. The state’s shoreline totals almost as much as the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Arctic Coasts combined. In fact, the Grand Lake of The Cherokees has more miles of shoreline than the coast of California.
—Oklahoma has more driveable miles of tourist-rich Route 66 than any other state.
—More American Indian tribes (39) are headquartered in Oklahoma than in any other state.
—The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is the nation’s first and oldest national wildlife park.
—The largest stocker-feeder cattle market in the world is at the Oklahoma City Stockyards.
By David Wilkening
David
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