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Press Release

January 18, 2022

Contact: Matthew Pearce, Ph.D.
State Historic Preservation Office, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-4479
Fax: 405-522-0816
mpearce@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/shpo

New Oklahoma National Register Listings

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office is pleased to announce the National Register of Historic Places designation for the following properties in Oklahoma. The National Register of Historic Places is our nation’s official list of properties significant in our past.

Garfield County
Liberty Federal Savings and Loan Association Building
401 W. Broadway Ave., Enid

The Liberty Federal Savings and Loan Association Building in Enid, Garfield County, was constructed between 1964 and 1965 as the company’s first freestanding building in Enid. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent example of International style architecture. Local architect Thomas “Tom” Melvin Rogers designed the bank in the popular International style by using glass curtain walls, foamed aluminum panels and a landscaped terrace to create a building that rivaled other midcentury buildings in the community. In addition to being the home of Liberty Federal Savings and Loan, the building provided an office for Rogers. Rogers’s office was located on the northwest corner of the second story, with a full view of West Broadway Avenue. Rogers was hired again to design the building’s remodel in 1979–1980, which included designing the finished basement. The façade and interior of the building were also altered during the remodel to meet shifting architectural trends and incorporate new character-defining details popular with banks throughout the 1980s. Such details included a new drive-through canopy fully compatible stylistically with the building’s original design by incorporating similar artistic detailing in the brick planter boxes and metal columns that mirrored the exterior walls and abstract railings found elsewhere on the building.

Kay County
George and Margaret Miller House
1300 S. Eighth St., Ponca City

The George and Margaret Miller House, located in Ponca City, Kay County, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C as an excellent local example of the French Eclectic style of architecture. The name of the property reflects the original ownership by Colonel George L. Miller, who was responsible for the house’s construction, as well as the original occupancy of the house by Miller’s nephew, also named George but with a middle initial of W.; his wife Margaret; and continued Miller family ownership through 1941 by George L. Miller’s daughter, also named Margaret Miller. Thus, the property name reflects the first four owners (George L. Miller, George W. and Margaret Miller, and Margaret Miller) and the first two occupants (George W. and Margaret Miller) of the house. Colonel George L. Miller was one of three brothers who operated the famed 101 Ranch and the associated 101 Ranch Wild West Show during the 1900s–1930s. George W. Miller, son of George L. Miller’s older brother, Colonel Joseph Miller, worked in the family business and was a longtime city attorney for Ponca City.

Latimer County
Edwards-Hardaway Homestead and Cemetery
Norris Road, eight miles northeast of Red Oak

The Edwards-Hardaway Homestead and Cemetery near Red Oak in Latimer County was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for Commerce and Ethnic Heritage: Native American. The homestead encompasses three contributing resources: a log building known today as Edwards Store (NRIS #72001069), a stone-lined well shaft and a cemetery. Built circa 1850, with subsequent additions in 1870 and 1889, the log building is among the oldest surviving buildings in Oklahoma. In addition, it is the only existing building in the state historically associated with the Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach Road. This association with the Butterfield reflects the pivotal role that the homestead played in the commercial development of Indian Territory. Between 1859 and 1861, stage drivers and passengers on the Butterfield Overland Mail route stopped at the homestead for lunch and to rest their horses. Following the Civil War, the homestead served as the original townsite of Red Oak, for which Thomas Edwards was named postmaster in 1868. Edwards operated a store on the homestead with his wife, Nancy, and her nephew, Jesse Hardaway. The store, as well as the town of Red Oak, flourished at this location until 1889, when the townsite moved eight miles southwest to be closer to a railroad. Although the store building on the property is no longer extant, the construction of additions to the log home throughout the period of significance represent the Edwards-Hardaway family’s commercial success in the region. Historic use of the site by Thomas and Nancy Edwards and their descendants also associates the homestead with a prominent family in the Choctaw Nation. The site remains under family ownership and the cemetery is still in use.

Oklahoma County
Jurhee Apartments
1312–1316 N. Francis Ave., Oklahoma City

The Jurhee Apartments Building (more commonly known as the Rene Apartments), located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its association with Community Planning and Development and for Architecture. Historically named the Jurhee Apartments, the building was built by Ed Jensen Construction Co., and financing for the project was underwritten by the Federal Housing Administration as part of a citywide attempt to provide affordable rental housing to veterans who had returned from World War II. Although such projects were originally marketed almost exclusively toward male heads-of-household, single women employed in nursing, clerical, and teaching occupations represented the majority of tenants at the Rene Apartments during the mid-twentieth century. The building is also notable for its modest combination of Early Modern and midcentury Modern Movement architectural elements. Although the building’s low-pitched hipped roof, wide eaves and red brick exterior are typical of the Prairie School architectural style, the application of steel-framed casement windows, steel columns, and steel railings indicate the growing popularity and affordability of pre-manufactured building materials utilized in many post-World War II housing styles.

Pachyderm Building for the Lincoln Park Zoo
2000 Remington Place, Oklahoma City

The Pachyderm Building for the Lincoln Park Zoo, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the best extant example of the midcentury Modern style of animal facility constructed at the Lincoln Park Zoo (now the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden). Designed by the Oklahoma City architectural firm of Sorey, Hill and Sorey, the distinctive Pachyderm Building was largely erected by Walter Nashert & Sons, also of Oklahoma City. Located within the broader confines of the Oklahoma City Zoo, the Pachyderm Building is distinguished by its iconic Modern style repetition of the zigzag shape and combination flat and folded plate roof with clerestory windows. The building is a unique construction at the zoo, although it no longer provides a home for the zoo’s elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses.

Tulsa County
Hewgley Terrace
420 S. Lawton Ave., Tulsa

Constructed in 1970, Hewgley Terrace in Tulsa, Tulsa County, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for Social History. This apartment building, constructed for the Tulsa Housing Authority, helped alleviate housing shortages for low-income seniors in Tulsa. It is a Highrise Project property type described in the “Tulsa Public Housing, 1966–1975” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. Construction of the apartment tower began in 1969 and was completed the following year. The building was the second public housing project completed for the elderly in Tulsa and made available an additional 150 units.

Pioneer Plaza
901 N. Elgin Ave., Tulsa

Constructed in 1969, Pioneer Plaza in Tulsa, Tulsa County, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for Social History. This apartment building was the first low-income senior housing project constructed for the Tulsa Housing Authority, which had been established in 1966. When it opened, this apartment building provided 200 units, supplying almost one-quarter of the units needed throughout the city at that time. Pioneer Plaza is a Highrise Project property type described in the “Tulsa Public Housing, 1966–1975” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. The property’s period of significance is 1969, the year the building was constructed and opened to residents. Pioneer Plaza retains a high degree of historic integrity, with few alterations since its initial construction.

Listing in the National Register of Historic Places is an honorific designation that provides recognition, limited protection and, in some cases, financial incentives for these important properties. The SHPO identifies, evaluates and nominates properties for this special designation.

The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.

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Editor’s Note: Photographs to accompany the story can be acquired by contacting Dr. Matthew Pearce at the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office at mpearce@okhistory.org.





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