Hillerman Map Project
Photographs of Oklahoma City
21412.BH696.1, Z.P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS (map #5S)
Old County Courthouse
Address: 520 West Main Street (Main Street and Dewey)
View: Southeast
Architectural Style: Massive Romanesque (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor, inside cover)
Architect: Willam A. Wells and George Burlinghof (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor, inside cover)
Built: 1906 (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor, inside cover)
Destroyed: 1950 (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor, inside cover)
"Perhaps no other building symbolizes Oklahoma more than the Oklahoma County Courthouse. Construction began on November 4, 1904, and was completed in 1906. It was designed by architects William A. Wells and his partner George Burlinghof in a style designated as Massive Romanesque. No sooner had plans been announced and the plot of land acquired, than a controversy developed between the business interests on Main and Grand. Each street had influential spokesmen and each side wanted the Court House to face on its street. A compromise was finally reached and the building was placed so that it faced west on Dewey between Grand and Main. In reality this meant that few people actually used the front entrance, but opted for the preferred side and back entrances instead. Exterior walls were constructed of Indiana limestone with the interior floors of granite and the walls and stairways of Vermont marble. The city literally outgrew the building and quite soon after it was completed, governing agencies were forced to rent office space in buildings outside of the Courthouse. The County moved in 1938 to a new Court House that was built in the Civic Center complex. The old Court House building was used by the federal government to house a group of wartime agencies during World War II, but a fire in 1944 caused the building to be abandoned and boarded up. Demolition began late in 1950 and was completed the following year. The land was used for a time as a parking lot and later sold to the Holiday Inn Corporation for a downtown motel." (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor, interior cover)
Click points or areas on the map to view historic photographs of downtown Oklahoma City.
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- Ford Assembling Plant
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- Municipal Auditorium
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- Bird’s Eye View of Civic Center and Courthouse
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- Old County Courthouse
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- Montgomery Ward Building
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- Hotel Black
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- Motor Hotel
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- Plaza Court
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- Gene Jones Motor Co.
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- Magnolia Petroleum Company
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- Rockwell Apartments
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- Masonic Temple (Home State Life Building)
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- Kirkpatrick Hotel
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- Elks Lodge (Key Building, ONG Building)
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- Federal Building
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- US Post Office
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- Federal Reserve Bank
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- Cotton-Exchange Building
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- Oklahoma County Courthouse
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- YWCA
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- Hightower Building
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- Mercantile Building (Levy Building)
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- Majestic Building
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- First National Building
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- Wright Building
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- Skirvin Tower
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- Rock Island Railroad Depot
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- Skirvin Hotel
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- Insurance Building
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- Public Warehouse Company
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- Patterson and Hoffman Wholesale Cigars and Pipes
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- Milner Hotel
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- Hotel Kingkade
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- Herskowitz Building
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- Santa Fe Railroad Station
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- Wells Roberts Hotel
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- Sooner Theatre
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- Colcord Building
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- Baltimore Building
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- Midwest Theatre
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- Kress
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- Lerner
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- Katz Drug
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- The American National Building
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- Empire Building
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- Criterion Theatre
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- Biltmore Hotel
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- Oklahoma Club Building
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- Farmer's National Bank Building
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- Commerce Exchange Building
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- Huckins Hotel, Huckins Garage
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- Campbell Building
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- Hales Building
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- Fidelity Bank
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- Britling Cafeteria
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- Manly Office Supply Company
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- Perrine Building, Cravens Building
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- Baum Building
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- Security National Building
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- Ramsey Tower, City National Building
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- Petroleum Building
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- Franklin Building
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- Braniff Building
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- Kerr-McGee Building
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- Capitol Federal Savings and Loan
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- Telephone, Pioneer, Southwestern Bell
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Parade on Broadway
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Aerial View
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- Bird’s Eye View
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- Bird’s Eye View
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- 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.
