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education through preservation
The photos for this collection are displayed in the offices of the Oklahoma Mattress Company, 915 NW 4. They were captured by Retro Metro member Norman Thompson. For more on Oklahoma Mattress Company see the following news item from The Oklahoman. MADE IN OKLAHOMA: OKLAHOMA MATTRESS CO. The Oklahoman – Wednesday, July 8, 2009 CUSTOMIZED PRODUCTS MAKE IT A...
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Kenyon Morgan was a graduate architecture student at the University of Oklahoma in 1973 when he began working with Sam Bowman at the Neighborhood Services Organization to assemble a plan for the Riverside Neighborhood Association. As part of that plan, and in preparing a proposal for Mesta Park, Morgan became interested in how the city was using money from the federal 312 loan program. It ...
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Leo C. Sanders was born in Union City, Oklahoma (south of El Reno), on April 2, 1894. He worked his way through the University of Oklahoma, earning his degree in civil engineering in 1920. A laborer at 19, a general contractor sought after by the nation’s leading builders at 35. It was said that Sanders could level entire business blocks overnight, set foundations over weekends and left...
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The Veazey Drug Company story begins with the arrival of Stephen F. Veazey in Oklahoma City from Gibson County, Tennessee in 1900. The company narrative maintains that Veazey came to town with $20 and learned the pharmacy business through a series of jobs in local drugstores. This may be true but, Veazey and his brother James appear to have had a grocery store back in Dyer, Tenn. so he wasn’t...
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Springlake Amusement Park was a popular Oklahoma City attraction from the 1920s through the 1970s. Admission to the park was free and rides and the pool were on a pay-as-you-go basis. If you just wanted to picnic by the lake there was no charge. Although the amusement-park no longer exists, its memory is honored by the presence of the Metrotech educational facility in its stead on at Martin...
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It started with a gunshot – Legally, there were no residents at all in Oklahoma City when gunshots rang out on April 22, 1889. The shots heralded what may be one of the most sudden births of a city in the history of mankind. The Land Run of 1889 offered hope and opportunity for anyone brave enough to stake their lots and gamble their fortunes that a great city would rise at Oklahoma...
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The advent of a public high school was heralded as a major cultural achievement for young Oklahoma City in 1892. A couple of schools began in the city as early as June, 1889, but these were private schools operating by subscription as no legal authority (and thus funding mechanism) existed for public education at the time. The creation of Oklahoma Territory made public education possible in the...
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Background In the late 1920s railway executives determined the Santa Fe Train Station that had served the city since statehood needed to be replaced. And that change would include a new set of elevated tracks. The $5 million elevation would allow a free flow of traffic under bridges to be built under the new tracks. But the East Side Civic Improvement League quickly expressed concerns that the...
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The Oklahoma Railway Co. operated from 1903 to 1947 and during its heyday it was the chief means of transportation for residents throughout central Oklahoma. On February 6, 1903, the Oklahoman headline read, “Car Service Next Monday,” and indeed it was. The article tells a brief story about a “Boomer” who had witnessed a trial run. He had sighted “the modern...
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Step inside the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Balliet’s or any trendy restaurant, and chances are there will not be any customized matchbooks provided by the host. But throughout much of the 1900s, matchbooks were commonplace in the hospitality industry – and were a thriving conduit for advertising around the world. According to the American Matchbook Collecting Club, tens of thousands of...
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For Oklahoma City, Dolores Restaurant is just a memory – another great restaurant that faded away after being a local favorite for decades. But for Los Angeles, the legend continues. Confused? This story starts back when drive-through restaurants were brand new – an innovation prompted by the sudden explosion of cross country automobile travel. It was in the early 1920s that...
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An advertisement in the Dec. 5, 1932 Daily Oklahoman introduced the Britling Cafeteria as “Oklahoma City’s newest good place to eat,” adding it would “soon be famous in Oklahoma City for serving fine home-cooked dishes at new and sure-to-be-popular low prices.” Accompanying renderings showed patrons dressed in fine gowns and tuxedos dining in opulent settings. The restaurant at 221 W...
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