In Travel

Touring Tulsa 2020, pt 1: Kicking Around on a Piece of Ground in Your Hometown

So, I went ALL THE WAY HOME this past week, to my original hometown of Tulsa! We love to travel back each summer to the suburban pleasures of shopping, laying around the parents’ pool and visiting old friends, but we rarely take the time to appreciate the historic significance and architectural treasures that make T-town special. (Bonus for who can identify the source of this post’s title!)

Public Market building at 11th and Elgin in Tulsa — This is the former Warehouse Market building at 11th and Elgin in Tulsa. Yes, Warehouse Market from 1929 until the 1980s it was a neighborhood market, first the Public Market, and then Warehouse Market. Just a bit fancier than the big box stores of today; of which, I’m pretty sure no one is blogging about their style.

I LOVE architecture and I have spent a lot of time casually studying buildings from the Romanesque and Gothic periods to modern ones in the Art Deco style and ones designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I know my family groans at the mention of an architecture tour (I’m always looking!), but I was SO GRATEFUL to my stepmom, Lana, for driving me around historic Tulsa last Thursday! It’s really hard to drive with your head out the window looking up at buildings, AND try to use phones for navigation, AND Google significant structures, and take all the photos I can – all at the same time!

Tulsa’s original boom was during the oil industry growth beginning in the 1920s, and it’s never really slowed down. I’m no expert on the industries that drive Tulsa, but they must be doing something right, because they keep growing, and growing in every direction. In my admitted limited wanderings, it has always looked to be thriving – roads are comparatively excellent, there’s always some new huge shopping area opening up, and the main thoroughfares look clean and well maintained.

So in the 1920s, Art Deco was the style for celebrating the boom of success in American architecture, and it was BOOM TIME in Tulsa, with the growth of the oil industry. Flush with oil money, prominent Tulsans built skyscrapers, public buildings, churches, and large commercial buildings all featured the Art Deco aesthetic, which emphasized machine-age streamlining and sleek geometry. In Tulsa, accessible materials like concrete, terra cotta, and chrome were used to create striking facades that dressed up buildings that were simple in other aspects.

Public Market/Warehouse Market Building

terra cotta medallion on the facade of Tulsa Public Market Building features Hermes, an oil derrick, and a train engine — This terra cotta medallion is one of two that flank the entrance of Tulsa Public/Warehouse Market Building. It features the Greek god Hermes, holding an oil derrick, and a train engine – perfectly combining classical with industry – very Art Deco.

The Mid-Continent Building

The lobby of the Mid-Continent Tower in Tulsa features art deco brilliance and a stained-glass masterpiece featuring the Tulsa skyline.

The Mid-Continent Tower built in the 1920s as the Cosden Tower, Tulsa’s first skyscraper. The exterior is described as “Venetian Gothic.” It was preserved and restored in 1980 and in 1984 a new 20-story tower was cantilevered over the top of it (Tulsahistorical.org).

Mid Continent clock directory in the lobby — This clock and directory in the Mid-Continent Building. When the building was renovated in the 80s, the developers went back to the same quarry in Italy for the Italian marble that features heavily in the historic lobby spaces, according to the desk attendant.

The elevator hall in the lobby of the Mid-Continent Building. When the building was renovated in the 80s, the developers went back to the same quarry in Italy for the Italian marble that features heavily in the historic lobby spaces, according to the desk attendant.

Mincks-Adams Hotel building

The ornate rococo terra cotta facade of the Mincks-Adams Hotel building, on the corner of 4th and Cheyenne, make it one of the most recognizable buildings in Downtown Tulsa. It opened in time to host dignitaries from around the world for the historic 1928 International Petroleum Exposition. It has newly renovated apartments now open for rent. (Tulsa World, 2017)

A sculpture of oil workers (roughnecks) in the lobby of the Mid-Continent Building in Tulsa.

Have you checked out some of these awesome spaces and buildings in Tulsa? Let me know in the comments. I have loved researching even just a little bit about the architecture of my hometown.

Be sure to check back in a few days when I post some more pics of my FAVORITE: Craftsman homes, and images from the Tulsa Botanical Garden, too.