You may know a little about the Oklahoma City history . but have you seen it?
Turner Publishing He recently published a book titled “Historic Photos of Oklahoma City” featuring stunning images from the early OKC assembled by the reference librarian for the metropolitan library system, Larry Johnson. It is the pictorial narrative of the history of Oklahoma City, long forgotten times shown in black and white.
you can pick it up at okc’s top book retailers and take a look at some of these amazing shots in this image gallery.
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main street in 1889
The main street was a popular place even since 1889.
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main street in the 1890s
just a few years later, the main street was even busier, apparently. This photo looks west between Robinson and Harvey.
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Theodore Roosevelt en Oklahoma
Theodore Roosevelt, a vice presidential candidate at the time, walked in a parade down Main Street in 1900.
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okc’s first shop windows
Oklahoma City’s first storefronts of the cookie cutter variety were brought in by Henry Overholser and placed along Grand Avenue.
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in the stands of the fairground
Taken around 1905, this photo shows a crowd in the stands at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.
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a Chuck Wagon run from Oklahoma’s first state fair.
You can see photos of the 100th Oklahoma State Fair here at about.com. well, this is from the first one in 1907.
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lee-huckins hotel fire
rebuilt, it would serve as a temporary capital, but this 1908 photo shows the aftermath of a violent fire that destroyed the Lee-Huckins Hotel in 2 hours.
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oklahoma capitol building under construction
This photo, taken by a 4-year-old boy in 1916, shows the Oklahoma City Capitol building under construction.
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Oklahoma City Capitol Oil Well
An oil producing well sat in front of the Oklahoma City capitol building for some time, as evidenced by this photo taken in 1939.
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tornado in oklahoma city
This tornado hit okc in 1896, but it was one just half an hour later that destroyed a house and barn in Britton.
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cattle exchange building
Built in 1910, the Livestock Exchange Building was of great economic importance to Oklahoma’s national pens.
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the importance of oil for okc
As you can see in this aerial photo from 1935, oil was very important to the growth of Oklahoma City.
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la torre ramsey
oil brought money to okc, and you could see it on the horizon. the ramsey tower was completed in 1931 and was the tallest in the city for only a few weeks.
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Oklahoma City main street on vacation
Taken during the Christmas season around 1935, this image is from the north side of Main Street between Harvey and Hudson.
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illuminated main street for the holiday seasons
Here is the main street in the holidays a little later. Taken in 1949, this shot catches major at night, east of Walker.
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oklahoma city colcord building
now a luxury hotel , the Colcord Building was Oklahoma City’s first skyscraper when it was built in 1910. This photo was taken in 1944.
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el hotel skirvin
renovated and reopened in 2007, the hotel skirvin it is a historical landmark. It was originally opened in 1911 and is seen here in 1925 after the third wing was added.
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top feed mill
The elevator for the top feed mills at 21st and Robinson was built in 1939.
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the first christian church
the first christian church building at 10th and robinson was dedicated in early December 1911. an amazing building, it still serves as a church today.
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