How Monkey Island Got Its Name!

Many different stories have been told about how Monkey Island got its name.
The following is the true story:

During the time the lake basin was being cleared, in 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Gove Bunch,
and son Billie G., and Mr. and Mrs. Everett Lee, and son Bill,
went to Tulsa to the Mohawk Park Zoo for a Sunday afternoon outing.
In the park there was a small island with a moat around it, where the monkeys were kept.
They all had fun feeding the monkeys.

Soon after this, a Tulsa World newspaper reporter came through Bernice
and was visiting with Mr. Bunch about the changes the lake would make.
Since this area was to be surrounded by water, Mr. Bunch jokingly remarked, "Over there will be Monkey Island, where the monkeys will be."

In a few days this report was printed in the Tulsa World; the name stuck,
and the island has been known as Monkey Island ever since.

There have never been any real monkeys on Monkey Island!

Source: Delaware County Historical Society - Jay Oklahoma
If you would like to have to have a copy of The History of Monkey Island, please contact me, and I'll see if I can get you one.

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