Ccity, seat (1907) of Creek county, northeastern Oklahoma, U.S. In 1886 the Frisco Railroadreached the site that the railroad men called Sapulpa, the name of a Creek Indian family that settled in the area about 1850. A railroad terminus, it developed as a cattle-shipping point. The oil and gas boom that followed the opening (1905) of the Glenn Pool field (4 miles [6 km] southeast) ushered in a period of prosperity. Diversified industry now includes meatpacking and the manufacture of oil-field equipment, glass, and steel tanks.

The city is home to Frankoma Pottery, founded by John and Grace Frank in 1933; since 1954 its distinctive handcrafted ware has been made exclusively from a red clay found at Sapulpa's Sugar Loaf Hill.