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Hillerman Map Project

Photographs of Oklahoma City

21412.M944.2, Z.P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS (map #4Z)

Cotton-Exchange Building (Leonhardt Building)

Address: 218 North Harvey Avenue

View: Southeast

Date: August 1946

Architect: Hawk and Parr (Blackburn, Henderson and Thurman 57)

Built: 1923 (National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma)

"As late as the early 1920s Oklahoma's economy still was predominately agricultural, with the cotton industry being the most important cash crop. By 1923, twenty-three cotton companies maintained purchasing agents in Oklahoma City, operating from dispersed buildings and offices. To centralize this specialized trade, city builder James W. Mann constructed the Cotton Exchange Building. For the design, Mann chose the architectural firm Hawk and Parr, which had gained a reputation with their design of the Masonic Temple in Guthrie and the Magnolia Petroleum Building in Oklahoma City. The building's role as a center for the cotton industry was short lived, however, for by 1930 the price of cotton had dropped more than 50% due to a combination of record harvests, declining markets, and economic depression. In 1945, with a few tenants associated with the cotton industry, the building was sold to H.E. Leonhardt, a local pioneer in the lumber industry. Today, the structure appears much as it did when it served the cotton trade in Oklahoma, a reminder of a past economic boom which equaled the importance of cattle and oil." (Blackburn, Henderson and Thurman 57)





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.