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Hillerman Map Project

Photographs of Oklahoma City

21412.B105.824, Z.P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS (map #1I)

Telephone Building, Pioneer Building (OLI)

Address: 401–411 North Broadway Avenue

View: Northwest from 3rd Street and Broadway Avenue

Date: ca. 1928

Architectural Style: Telephone Building (right), Art Deco; Pioneer Building (left), Chicago (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)

Architect: Telephone Building, Layton, Hicks and Forsyth; Pioneer Building, William Wells (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)

Built: Telephone Building, 1927; Pioneer Building, 1907 (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)

"The expansion of Oklahoma City during the 1920s was reflected in the growth of the telephone company. As more people arrived in the booming city, more telephones were installed, new equipment was purchased, and new employees were hired. To house the expanded operations, Southwestern Bell constructed the sixteen story Telephone Building just north of the Pioneer Building. Designed by Solomon Layton, the buff-brick structure included set-backs, a tower, and ornate terra cotta." (Blackburn, Henderson and Thurman 72)

"The telephone came to Oklahoma City in 1893 with the arrival of the Missouri-Kansas Telephone Company. For about ten years this firm held a monopoly, but then came competition: Pioneer Telephone Company, a new and energetic organization which in a few short years had swallowed up a number of the small town exchanges, and now was challenging Missouri-Kansas for the city's telephone business. For a time it was necessary for citizens to subscribe to the services of both companies if they wanted to insure communication links with all other residents and businesses in town, but in 1905 this inconvenience was eliminated when Pioneer bought out Missouri-Kansas. Three years later the surviving company moved into this new headquarters building at Northwest Third and Broadway." (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor 85)





Click points or areas on the map to view historic photographs of downtown Oklahoma City.


Ford Assembling Plant
Municipal Auditorium
Bird’s Eye View of Civic Center and Courthouse
Old County Courthouse
Montgomery Ward Building
Hotel Black
Motor Hotel
Plaza Court
Gene Jones Motor Co.
Magnolia Petroleum Company
Rockwell Apartments
Masonic Temple (Home State Life Building)
Kirkpatrick Hotel
Elks Lodge (Key Building, ONG Building)
Federal Building
US Post Office
Federal Reserve Bank
Cotton-Exchange Building
Oklahoma County Courthouse
YWCA
Hightower Building
Mercantile Building (Levy Building)
Majestic Building
First National Building
Wright Building
Skirvin Tower
Rock Island Railroad Depot
Skirvin Hotel
Insurance Building
Public Warehouse Company
Patterson and Hoffman Wholesale Cigars and Pipes
Milner Hotel
Hotel Kingkade
Herskowitz Building
Santa Fe Railroad Station
Wells Roberts Hotel
Sooner Theatre
Colcord Building
Baltimore Building
Midwest Theatre
Kress
Lerner
Katz Drug
The American National Building
Empire Building
Criterion Theatre
Biltmore Hotel
Oklahoma Club Building
Farmer's National Bank Building
Commerce Exchange Building
Huckins Hotel, Huckins Garage
Campbell Building
Hales Building
Fidelity Bank
Britling Cafeteria
Manly Office Supply Company
Perrine Building, Cravens Building
Baum Building
Security National Building
Ramsey Tower, City National Building
Petroleum Building
Franklin Building
Braniff Building
Kerr-McGee Building
Capitol Federal Savings and Loan
Telephone, Pioneer, Southwestern Bell
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Street View
Parade on Broadway
Street View
Street View
Aerial View
Bird’s Eye View
Bird’s Eye View
Bird’s Eye View

The Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection

The Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection includes thousands of images, many of which depict businesses in Oklahoma City. Many photographs in the collection are from the Meyers Photo Shop, which employed Barney Hillerman and other photographers. This map highlights significant buildings in the downtown Oklahoma City area, as well as street and aerial views. The map features images dating from the late 1920s to the 1960s.

This project was made possible by a grant from the Pauline Dwyer Macklanburg and Robert A. Macklanburg Jr. Foundation.

You can view more images from the Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection on The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Visit The Gateway to Oklahoma History.