A project of the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society
Oklahoma City / County Historical Society
Stories, photos, and community contributions from the classic okchistory.com collection.
By Howard K. Berry Sr., Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2001. In print.Review: A great act of preserving Oklahoma's early day legal history has been accomplished with the recent publication…
By Bob Blackburn, Windsor Publications, 1982, out of print.Review: This 1982 book with commentary by Bob Blackburn contains a nice blend of text and images tracing the historical…
By Mark Singer, Mariner Books, still available in paperback ESSENTIAL OKC HISTORY Review: This account of the collapse of Penn Square Bank is a quick, interesting reader but…
By Bob Burke and Dick Dugan, Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2007, $29.95, in print.Synopsis: For a half century the All Sports Association has made a huge economic impact on…
By the City of Oklahoma City, 1996, out of print, but available online for $5 Review: I bought this book in error, thinking it was the same as…
By Bob Burke and Gini Moore Campbell, Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2004, in print, $26.95.Review: In 1950, John W. Nichols created the world's first public oil and gas drilling…
By Anna Katherine Curfman, Barry Rosen, Teresa N. Rishel, and Terry Rishel, Portland Press, 2005, in print.Review: People who have seen the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's Dale…
By Anita Arnold, published by the Black Liberated Arts Center, 1994, not in print Review: Ever since the Charlie Christian Jazz Festival was inaugurated in 1984, it had…
Belly Up, the Story of Penn Square Bank, by Philip Zweig, Ballentine Books, 1986 Review: Wall Street Journal reporter Zweig details how the Oklahoma City Penn Square Bank…
By Oklahoma City Foundation for Architecture and American Institute of Architects, 2007, in print, $19.95, in print. Review: Great survey of the city's most significant architecture. This book…
By Roy P. Stewart Oklahoma Heritage Association, $24.95 Review: A decade after the death of legendary Oklahoma newspaper columnist Roy P. Stewart, the Oklahoma Heritage Association has released…
By Roy P. Stewart, published by Fidelity Bank, 1974, out of print, copies easily obtainable online, at second hand book stores for $10 to $30.Review: Roy Stewart is…
By Bob Burke, Arcadia Press, 2003, in print, $19.99Review: Oklahoma City is completing its first century of minor league baseball. Since 1904, organized professional teams called the Mets,…
By Bob Burke, Vicki Miles-Lagrange and Kenny Arthur Franks, Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1999, in print, $18.95Review: Great biography of a pioneering civil rights leader and executive with Oklahoma…
By Albert Leroy McRill, Britton Publishing, 1955, out of print, a few copies can be bought online or at antique stores for $150 to $200.ESSENTIAL OKC HISTORY Review:…
August 24, 2008 - Fifty years ago this week, a group of black youths led by Clara Luper entered downtown's John A. Brown's, bought magazines and books, and…
Love them or hate them, this week in history marks the arrival of something new to Oklahoma City -- the four-corner traffic light.In August 1928, the first four-corner…
Could we lose these murals?NO one could be happier than we are that SandRidge Energy opted to move into Kerr McGee's landmark tower that's made up part of…
AUGUST, 2007: The news in August 1925 related to getting a new home built for the Mid-Continent Insurance company was not good, but its leaders were nothing if…
The same team responsible for "OKC Second Time Around" return with "Skirvin," being released in November, 2009 on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the hotel's groundbreaking.…
Book Description:From the moment 10,000 settlers descended upon Oklahoma Station in 1889 and declared it Oklahoma City, the land surrounding the depot was destined to become the new…
From the run of 1889 when 10,000 strangers came together in one day to build a city until the beginning of the turbulent sixties, downtown had been the…
MARCH 9, 2008 - This week, 40 years ago, the age of passenger rail service was on the verge of meeting its final demise.Five passenger trains were still…
FEBRUARY 2, 2008:Å Ghetto Freaks is not likely to show up on any listing of great, good or even Å okay movies. But thanks to reviews at www.amazon.com,…
Molly Murphy's House of Fine Repute is gone, but not forgotten. A great new book by the widow of Bob Tayar, its creative genius, is for sale at…
OCTOBER, 2007: Northpark Mall shouldn't exist. Spanning just 200,000 square feet, it's tiny compared to nearby Quail Springs and Penn Square malls. It has no major anchors. It…
SEPTEMBER, 2007: During the last week of September in 1929, Oklahoma Cityans who worked downtown or otherwise needed to go there had something new to deal with.City fathers…
First National Tower is a masterpiece admired by many, yet forgotten by all. Boatman's Bank, now just another forgotten acquisition in the Bank of America empire, gets the…
JULY 27, 2007:Excavators were busy this week in 1922, digging into the red soil at the southeast corner of NW 3 and Robinson Avenue to start the foundation…
JULY, 2007: Federal authorities announced this month in 1930 (July 13, the Sunday starting the month's third week) they were revising expansion plans for the United States Post…