Note: Edited on 7/3/07 to add Oklahoma Justice; edited: on 6/30/07 to Add Book Links for Amazon & Full Circle Bookstore where available; on July 18, 2007, to add And Satan Came Also; on July 19-20 to add description and Doug Dawgz “ratings” for each of the books shown here; on 7/27/07 to add Life of a Successful Bank and Oklahoma City: A Centennial Portrait; on 9/3/2007 to add The Oklahoma Land Rush and When Oklahoma Took the Trolley; and on 9/26/2007 to add Oklahoma City Rediscovered.
Doug Dawgz collection of books relating directly or indirectly to Oklahoma City history is by no means complete … but I am working on it! The purpose of this post is to give you a list of what I have, thinking that one or some of the books might serve as starting points for your further reading and/or research about Oklahoma City history. Some of the books are out-of-print but you could likely find them in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan (or other) Library or in a used book store, or on-line.
I wholly value each of the books shown here, one way or another. Some have more “history information,” some have more “images,” but the best (for me) have both. I much prefer books that have indices, and, sadly, some of the otherwise better Okc History books below (notably the Arcadia publications) do not. Neither does the 2007 release by Larry Johnson, caretaker that he is for the Okc Metropolitan Library System’s “Oklahoma” area. That said, images are present in his new book that I’ve not seen before, and that makes it valuable to me for that reason alone. So, regardless of the book, each contains positive contributions to Oklahoma City history, whether the “positives” be “knowledge” and/or “pictorial” information.
The books are listed alphabetically by book title. My method (1) shows the book jacket or cover, (2) gives links to a book’s table of contents and a sample page, and, (3) provides links as to where you can get a copy at Amazon, Full Circle Books, or other locales at the bottom of this page. I’ll edit this post later to add some additional books that I learn of or, better still, come to own!
In the table below, click on a book’s title to move to that particular book. Larger images of all books’ covers are available by clicking on the smaller images shown here.
Book Title | Author | Publisher & Year |
In Print? |
Indexed? | Color Images? |
And Satan Came Also – An Inside Political History of Oklahoma City | Albert Leroy McRill | Britton Publishing Co. 1955 |
No | Yes | No | Born Grown | Roy P. Stewart | Fidelity Bank 1974 |
No | No | Few |
Heart of the Promised Land: Oklahoma County | Bob. L. Blackburn | Windsor Publications 1982 |
No | Yes | Yes |
Historical Atlas of Oklahoma | Charles Robert Goins & Danney Goble | University of Oklahoma Press 2006 |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Historic Photos of Okc | Larry Johnson | Turner Publishing Co. 2007 |
Yes | No | No |
Images of History: Oklahoman Collection | Bob L. Blackburn & Jim Argo | Oklahoma Historical Society 2005 |
Yes | No | Yes |
Images of Oklahoma: A Pictorial History | Bob L. Blackburn | Oklahoma Historical Society 1984 |
? | Yes | No |
Life of A Successful Bank: 1908-1978 | Pendleton Woods, Odie Faulk & Welborn Hope | Fidelity Bank 1978 |
No | Yes | Few |
Oklahoma City: A Centennial Portrait | Odie B. Faulk, Laura E. Faulk, & Bob L. Blackburn | Windsor Publications 1988 |
? | Yes | Yes |
OKC: Second Time Around | Steve Lackmeyer & Jack Money | Full Circle Press 2006 |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Oklahoma City: Land Run to Statehood | Terry L. Griffith | Arcadia Publishing 1999 |
Yes | No | No |
Oklahoma City: Statehood to 1930 | Terry L. Griffith | Arcadia Publishing 2000 |
Yes | No | No |
Oklahoma City: 1930 to the Millennium | Terry L. Griffith | Arcadia Publishing 2000 |
Yes | No | No |
Oklahoma City: Capital of Soonerland | Lucyl Shirk | Okc Board of Education 1957 |
No | No | No |
Oklahoma City Rediscovered | William D. Welge | Arcadia Publishing 2007 |
Yes | No | No |
Oklahoma Justice | Ron Owens | Turner Publishing Co. 1995 |
Yes | No | No |
Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 | Stan Hoig | Oklahoma Historical Society 1984 |
No | Yes | Yes |
OPUBCO’s First Century | David Dary | Oklahoma Publishing Co. 2003 |
Yes | Yes | No |
Photographing Oklahoma 1889/1991 | Mark Klett | Oklahoma City Art Museum 1991 |
Yes | Sorta | No |
Vanished Splendor | Jim Edwards & Hal Ottaway | Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1982 |
No | Yes (in Vol 3) | Yes |
Vanished Splendor II | Jim Edwards & Hal Ottaway | Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1983 |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Vanished Splendor III | Jim Edwards, Mitchell Oliphant & Hal Ottaway | Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1985 |
No | Yes | Yes |
When Oklahoma Took The Trolley | Allison Chandler & Stephen McGuire | Interurbans. 1980 |
No | Yes | No |
In the notes which follow, click on book cover for a larger view.
AND SATAN CAME ALSO
An Inside Political History of Oklahoma City
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 5 stars (you won’t find matching substantive content anywhere else … it is quite unique as to content); Book’s Images: 3 stars (not because they are that great, but because they are unique); Quality of production: 1 star (except for a few images, not done with high quality paper; graphics are not that great but some are unique, not to be found elsewhere); Worth the money? 5 stars, because of content.
For a more thorough review, see George H. Shirk’s review at page 120 in the linked PDF file.
BORN GROWN
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 2 stars (while some unique images are present, they are not that great and all are black and white); Quality of production: 3 1/2 stars (the book is printed with high qualify “glossy” paper and it won’t fade away before you get around to reading it) but “large” images are not presented; Worth the money? 4 stars, because of content, index, and quality of production.
HEART OF THE PROMISED LAND: OKLAHOMA COUNTY
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Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 3 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 3 stars (some are unique and some are in color, but none will knock your socks off); Quality of production: 4 1/2 stars (the book is printed with high quality “glossy” paper and the images are crisp and clean); Worth the money? 3 1/2 stars – the commercials were a bummer for me, othewise I’d give it a 4 star rating because of the production quality.
HISTORICAL ATLAS OF OKLAHOMA
Click here for Contents p. 3 Click here for Contents p. 4
Click here for Sample Page
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars – some of the essays are very very good; Book’s Images: 4 stars (some are unique and a some will knock your socks off); Quality of production: 5 stars (the book is printed with high quality “glossy” paper and the images are crisp and clean; Worth the money? 4 1/2 stars – a bit more “color” would have gotten this book my “5 star” rating.
HISTORIC PHOTOS OF OKC
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 2 stars – not much text accompanies the images and that’s why I rank it low on “content;” Book’s Images: 4 stars (many are unique and the images cover a wide span of time … Territorial Days through downtown Civil Rights marches); Quality of production: 3 stars (the book is printed with high quality “glossy” paper but several are not crisp and many would have benefitted from contrast enhancement … this is not Mr. Johnson’s fault but is the publisher’s for not taking care of production; Worth the money? 3 3/4 stars.
IMAGES OF HISTORY: OKLAHOMAN COLLECTION
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 2 1/2 stars – just a bit more than Mr. Johnson’s book, above;” Book’s Images: 4 1/2 stars (many are unique and the images cover a wide span of time … Territorial Days through downtown Civil Rights marches); Quality of production: 5 stars (the book is printed with high quality “glossy” paper and all (some spanning 2 pages side by side) are all sharp and very well produced; Worth the money? 4 stars.
IMAGES OF OKLAHOMA ~ A PICTORIAL HISTORY
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 2 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 3 stars; Quality of production: 3 1/2 stars – I didn’t care much for the sepia treatment; Worth the money? 3 stars.
LIFE OF A SUCCESSFUL BANK: 1908-1978
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Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 3 1/2 stars; Quality of production: 3 stars (because of the non-glossy paper); Worth the money? 3 3/4 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY – A CENTENNIAL PORTRTAIT
Click here for Sample Page
Next Book Go To Book Links

Covering land run days through 1988, many of the images are quite excellent and the production quality is quite good. While a good survey, it doesn’t contain a great amount of detail that you couldn’t find elsewhere and doesn’t begin to match the content, say, of Born Grown, (above), even if it is prettier. It is available through Amazon for under $5, plus shipping.
Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 3 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 5 stars; Quality of production: 4 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
OKC: 2nd TIME AROUND
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 5 stars; Book’s Images: 5 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY: LAND RUN TO STATEHOOD
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 4 stars; Quality of production: 4 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY: STATEHOOD TO 1930
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 4 stars; Quality of production: 4 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY: 1930 TO THE MILLENNIUM
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 4 stars; Quality of production: 4 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY: CAPITAL OF SOONERLAND
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 4 stars; Quality of production: 4 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY REDISCOVERED
Next Book Go To Book Links

I consider the element which makes this book particularly unique is its coverage of Deep Deuce and Bricktown, covered in more depth than any other publication I’ve seen, and its coverage of Capitol Hill isn’t far behind.
Only one area gives me some pause: on quick review, I’ve noticed a few obvious errors which should have been picked up before publication. Some are harmless, e.g., using “capital” when used in the context of the state’s “capitol” city (as did Lucyl Shirk’s book even in her book’s title!) but some are not. For example, on page 18 a very nice aerial photo of the warehouse district says that the picture was taken “around 1913” which is not possible since it also shows a 3-wing Skirvin Hotel in the lower right corner, each with 14 stories — the 3rd (east) wing of the Skirvin wasn’t added until around 1925 and the other wings’ elevation to 14 floors didn’t occur until 1930. The image also shows the Calvary Baptist Church which was constructed in 1921.Whether this mistake was a careless proofreading error (1913 instead of 1930) or some other kind of mistake doesn’t matter — things such as that give reason for pause in accepting text as “factual” when it is not.
Notwithstanding, the author is very well credentialed and the research put into the book, particularly as concerns Capitol Hill, Deep Deuce, and the Warehouse District, is obviously extensive and impressive. In this book you will find more images of Deep Deuce (which were apparently not always easy to obtain) than in any other book and they are a treasure to have.
Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 5 stars; Quality of production: 4 ½ stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
OKLAHOMA CITY JUSTICE: THE OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE
Next Book Go To Book Links

Although a black & white production, the paper is high quality glossy. It is largely content-based but has lots of pics, as well. Its 336 pages would probably convert to a book about 500 pages long but for the very small font-size that was used. Its only major shortcoming is that it lacks an index.
Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 5 stars; Book’s Images: 4 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 4 1/2 stars.
OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH OF 1889
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: As yet, none. After I’ve read it, I’ll amend this section.
OPUBCO’s FIRST CENTURY
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Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 5 stars; Book’s Images: 5 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
PHOTOGRAPHING OKLAHOMA: 1889/1991
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 1 star; Book’s Images: 5 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 4 stars.
THE VANISHED SPLENDOR
Click here for Sample Page
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 4 1/2 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
THE VANISHED SPLENDOR II
Click here for Sample Page
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 4 1/2 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
THE VANISHED SPLENDOR III
Click here for Sample Page
Next Book Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 1/2 stars; Book’s Images: 4 1/2 stars; Quality of production: 5 stars; Worth the money? 5 stars.
WHEN OKLA TOOK THE TROLLEY
Go To Book Links

Doug Dawgz Thoughts: Content: 4 stars; Book’s Images: 4 1/2 stars; Quality of production: 4 1/2 stars; Worth the money? 4 1/2 stars.
BOOK LINKS. Full Circle Books, located at the northeast corner of the first level of 50 Penn Place, Oklahoma City, is Oklahoma’s largest independent bookstore and I’m happy to support this fine business by showing links for books identified here if I understand them to be available there. Of course, you can also search on-line at Barnes & Noble and/or Borders, or, of course, do it the old way by actually going to a physical bookstore! And, for sure if you want an adventure, you might pay a visit to John Dunning’s Western Trail Trading Post at 9100 N. Western, Oklahoma City. John has thousands of vintage postcards, lots of old books – there’s good finds to be had in Dunning’s rustic old store!
In the same alphabetical-by-book-title order, here are some links I located this morning, June 30, 2007. Only a sometimes abbreviated book title and publication year is shown below.
- And Satan Came Also (1955): hard to find; copy was available on 7/18/07 at John Dunning’s Western Trail Trading Post; on the same date none available at Amazon but that may change; at Biblo.com
- Born Grown (1974): at Amazon
- Heart of the Promised Land (1982): at Amazon
- Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (2006): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Historic Photos of Okc (2007): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Images of History: Oklahoman Collection (2005): at Amazon
- Images of Oklahoma: Pictorial History (1984): at Amazon
- Life of a Successful Bank (1978): at Amazon
- Oklahoma City: Centennial Portrait (1988): at Amazon
- Okc: Second Time Around (2006): at Full Circle Books
- Okc: Land Run to Statehood (1999): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Okc: Statehood to 1930 (2000): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Okc: 1930 to the Millennium (2000): at Amazon
- Okc: Capital of Soonerland (1957): at Amazon
- Okc Rediscovered (2007): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Oklahoma Justice: OCPD (1995): at Amazon at Full Circle Books
- Oklahoma Land Rush (1984): at Amazon
- OPUBCO’s First Century (2003): at Amazon
- Photographing Oklahoma (1991): at Amazon
- Vanished Splendor (I) (1982): at Amazon
- Vanished Splendor II (1983): at Biblio.com (no Amazon link was found on 6/30/07)
- Vanished Splendor III (1985): at Amazon
- When Oklahoma Took The Trolley (1980): at Amazon