Will Rogers Memorial state agency. Will Rogers was born near Oologah, Oklahoma, where his father had settled. He had originally purchased the land in 1911, a plot containing that overlooks the Tiawah Valley, as the site of his retirement home. The price was reportedly $500 per acre. After his death, it was passed on to members of the Rogers family. Will's widow, Betty Rogers, donated the property in 1937, during the Great Depression, to the state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma legislature appropriated $200,000 for the construction of a museum honoring Rogers. The original limestone building was designed by John Duncan Forsyth. Groundbreaking occurred
Will Rogers State Beach Will Rogers State Beach at Sunset Blvd., there is the grounding electrode of the Pacific DC Intertie. The beach is named after actor Will Rogers. In the 1920s, Rogers bought the land and developed a ranch along the coast. He owned along the coast in what is now Pacific Palisades. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935. Then when his widow, Betty, died in 1944, the ranch became a state park. Will Rogers State Beach Will Rogers State Beach is a beach park on the Santa Monica Bay, at the Pacific coast of Southern California. Located in Pacific Palisades,