(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/Hometowninthepark.jpg)
Hometown in front of the Locust Grove Recreation Center in 1959
Tulsa's Old Locust Grove Park
Nothing holds my attention like the places that Tulsa has lost. One of those missing places is Tulsa's old Locust Grove Park.
If you head south out of downtown on Cincinnati and pass 13th Street then veer left towards the Broken Arrow Expressway you'll drive right over the site of the former park. There is no longer a trace of it but it was once surrounded by Cincinnati, Detroit, 13th Place and 14th Street.
The Park's Early Years
The area that became Locust Grove Park is clearly outlined in a 1915 map of Tulsa though it was referred to simply as Locust Grove. It may have been a stand of trees that was used like a park. At the time the surrounding housing additions were known as Oak Grove (to the south), Oak Dale (to the east), Bayne Grove (to the west) and Brenen Reed (to the north).
In a 1930 map the park is labeled Locust Grove Park and the western border extended as far as Boston. Oak Grove encompasses the homes south of 14th Street as well as the homes to the west of Boston. The Oak Dale neighborhood to the east of Detroit is called the Oak Dale "suburb." In a 1957 map the park shrank because Cincinnati had been extended and now formed the park's western border. Homes to the west of Cincinnati are again named "Bayne" Addition.
I did not uncover exactly when the park was incorporated but a Tulsa Tribune column from 1970 states that Locust Grove Park was 50 years old which would make its beginning 1920.
Remember Tulsa Parks' famous wading pools? Locust Grove Park received the first of the donated wading pools. The pool was dedicated in 1921.
Following the end of World War II and with the advent of the Baby Boom, Tulsa Parks developed free summer play programs run by "trained supervisors in recreational work."
In the summer time the parks were full of children playing softball, gymnastics and tennis. Fun could be had joining a checkers, dominoes, horseshoe, ping pong or croquet tournament or learning how to swim or make crafts. Bookworms could check out a book from a visiting bookmobile.
In 1946, Tulsa World writer Cecil Brown reported: "Park officials ... predict the current outdoor season will be the greatest in the department's history."
Everything a Kid Could Need
By the 1950s Locust Park, as it was also known, had just about all the things that the Tulsa Parks offered and that meant it had everything a kid could need on a hot summer day in Tulsa.
The park sported swings and a merry-go-round. It had a large basket ball court and a wading pool, a native stone pool house and tennis courts as well as an indoor recreation center. Fifty volunteer Tulsa Jaycees turned out to build an outdoor gym in 1957.
Neighborhoods full of houses with kids hugged the park. Small and mid-sized houses on modest lots faced the park on all sides except for 13th Place which had two apartment buildings in addition to houses. There was also a brick apartment building at Detroit and 13th Place and an apartment building at 14th Street and Cincinnati facing Cincinnati. The houses to the west of the park on Detroit sat up high on a small hill above a retaining wall. A railroad track ran behind the houses on Detroit.
My comparisons aren't exact but today you could find a similar mix of houses between 15th, 18th, Peoria and Madison. Brady Heights and Owen Park also have a similar look to the neighborhoods that flanked the park.
Some of my very first memories are of Locust Grove Park. In 1959 we lived on 14th between Cincinnati and Detroit. I was six years old. I can remember sitting in our small front yard at dusk and watching a group of square dancers under the lights of the basketball court. The women wore layers of petticoats causing their colorful skirts to puff out and swirl around. A man with a fiddle called out the dance moves.
It's hard now to imagine that children played in the park and around the neighborhood with little or no supervision. We would take off and walk blocks into downtown or over to the Gunboat neighborhood or further to Tracy Park. But we spent most of our time in Locust Grove Park.
Make Way for Progress
Eleven years later in 1970 when I was 17 I found myself living by old Locust Grove Park again. I returned to the same block of 14th Street to rent a house with my older sister. Our rent house sat facing the park.
The construction of the Broken Arrow Expressway was moving along though it was far from completed. You entered the Expressway east of Utica. Like now, you used Cincinnati to get from downtown to the expressway. Cincinnati curved through Locust Grove Park devouring a large corner section of the park where Cincinnati connected with 14th Street. You would loop through the park and after Detroit you climbed a little hill and passed over railroad tracks.
The park's days were numbered. By now the wading pool had become a splash pad and the park was in disrepair. The homes to the immediate west of the park had been demolished for widening Cincinnati back in the 1960s. There was a chain link fence at the edge of the park running along Cincinnati and 14th Street. The park that had once been filled with children wasn't used much now. And my sister and I only kept the rent house for a few months.
But in 1972 or maybe it was '73 I returned to Tulsa's old Locust Grove Park again to explore the abandoned houses that were about to be demolished for the expressway. The houses in the neighborhoods surrounding the park had been bought up and emptied out and sat vacant. Exploring those old houses was a great adventure.
Locust Grove Park and the surrounding neighborhoods were demolished for construction of the Broken Arrow Expressway in the mid-1970s.
Today almost nothing remains of Tulsa's venerable old Locust Grove Park. Even memories have faded. Folks that commuted past the park on their way to the Broken Arrow Expressway for years, have difficulty remembering the park. Only a few of the old buildings remain. Boston Avenue Methodist Church stands out.
Acknowledging an Old Friend
The most fitting tribute to the park that I have found was written by Tribune Business Editor Bob Foresman in his March 21, 1970 column.
"Have we lost sight of the kids as we go pell mell about the task of building expressways, subdividing acreage and making Tulsa a bigger city?
...
I was exasperated after a recent church board meeting at which state highway department engineers told us that a new expressway interchange was going to require a segment of our off-street parking area.
But don't be alarmed, they said in essence. A trade could be arranged, they felt sure, to give the church [Boston Avenue Methodist] part of a nearby park [Locust Grove], and not a single parking space would be lost.
This dismayed me a bit, because I had played there as a boy, splashed in the wading pool, snagged my pants on a rugged, old sliding board and learned to play tennis on its courts.
The park was an old friend of mine, and now after 50 years they were going to turn it into a concrete parking lot.
Nobody mentioned the kids who play there. Few of us thought they were important or their needs as important as ours. At least none of us said so."
Well said Mr. Foresman, wherever you are. Thank you for sticking up for our friend.
Anyway folks, I would love to read anything anyone might remember about Tulsa's old Locust Grove Park.
January 31, 2007
Hometown:
Although I live in Tampa now, I was born and raised in Tulsa and never knew of this park, but your story was a pleasure to read.
It brought back some great memories of those carefree days when we slept with the front door open and drank from the garden hose.
T-town Transplant
Hometown, do you have more pictures? I'd love to see what that area looked like before the highway, when Horace Mann was still a school.
Very nice reading. I lived in Northwest Arkansas as a child and Tulsa and its offerings was like Disneyland to us country folks. It was a very magical place to travel to. Lived here for thirty four years now and I still have that same feeling about this great town. A lot of the old magic has been eliminated though.
Good memories. Our park time in the fifties was divided between Kendal Park, which is now pretty much gone (thanks TU), and Tracy Park which had the deepest wading pool. One great memory I have is losing my shoes. When the large groups of kids would be dropped off for an afternoon of wading, sliding, swinging at the park we would all throw our shoes and clothes into a huge pile nearby. Someone liked my zippered Elvis shoes so much he took them and I had to walk home in Buster Browns!
I remember Locust Grove Park. In fact, I remember that little area being one of my favorite in Tulsa. It had a lot of heart and soul to it, and Tulsa really did suffer by its loss.
I understand that progress requires that we lose some things, but it seems that Tulsa has too often willingly put its very best on the chopping block to satisfy - whatever.
Thanks for those memories. I'd also love to see more pictures!
How about Central Park where the big hole is at the present that protects the park from flooding? The simple life that was being enjoyed during the times before TV's, fast cars, ribbons of concrete expressways has give its place in history to the exploiters of children needs. We need bigger cities so we can build bigger bureaucracies at the cost of the open areas. During the 40's I lived in the shadows of the church on Boston. But the city grew and with growth came the needs for many things that we can not do without.
Okay, this is the best I can do for now. More pics will follow with other stories.
Meanwhile, hey, cute doll. It's 1960 and I'm in the front yard of the house on 14th Street four houses up from Cincinnati. Locust Grove Park is directly behind me across 14th. You can see the Ambassador Hotel through the trees.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/14thCincinnati1960.jpg)
One more. This was taken in the front yard of our next house on Norfolk in 1960. That house still stands, three houses up the hill from the Tennis Courts at Tracy Park. Back then The Continental Skating Rink was across the street to the right at the bottom of the hill at 11th. The houses behind me were demolished for Hwy 75. When this picture was taken the train tracks ran behind those houses and we would get hobos coming around from time to time asking for food. Many of the houses in Tracy Park Addition were larger than those pictured here.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/Norfolk-near11thMay1960.jpg)
Those were the best houses - especially the porches.
I'm trying to place those houses. I know them ...
Hometown, that is a wonderful story. There was a time when cities were built around neighborhood parks. The yards were much smaller, but there was always a nearby place to play a game of baseball, football, whatever. I think such an environment was helpful to kids--it created independence, but it also forced children to learn to get along. Nowadays, kids spend time in their own yards, on their own play equipment, with their own toys. No need to share. If you are not getting along with a friend, you can each go to your separate yards. Parks are communal, and they provide kids with great life lessons. But parks anymore are huge, automobile dependent pieces of land. Before, kids would go hang out at the park while mom did chores; now parks are a chore in themselves--mom (or dad) has to load the kids in the car, pack all necessary items, drive to the nearest park, and supervise the kids the whole time. No wonder they are empty so often. And even when kids do go, with parents constantly supervising, they don't get the opportunity to learn how to solve problems on their own.
quote:
Originally posted by PRH
My grandmother lived in the eleven hundred block of S. Newport. This was just South of Tracy Park, up the slight hill.
I too remember the bums coming up from the railroad tracks. My grandmother always gave them something to eat; probably a habit she picked up from the Great Depression. I think those were the tracks of the Midland Valley RR.
I can't say I remember the Locust Grove park.
PHR, There was a lady on that block of south Newport about two or three houses up from Tracy Park on the west side of the street that had a little day care like program in her home. She organized games and prepared snacks and read to kids.
Do you remember Brewster's? Art Cat mentioned that in a post. Brewster's was that wonderful Toy Store on Peoria. I think it was across the street from the graveyard. I can remember ogling the toys in the windows of Brewster's.
Shadows, do you have any memory of playing in Locust Grove Park back in the '40s?
The swings at Locust Grove Park were especially tall and you could almost build up enough momentum to go over the top. In fact I think my sister did once. There were large trees nearby and you could touch the branches if you really leaned into it.
Cecelia, are your memories childhood or teen years?
This is wonderful. Thank you so much, Hometown, for posting your photographs and memories along with your thorough research on the history of the neighborhood.
Wasn't this area or maybe just east of it featured in Rumble Fish, or maybe the outsiders? Was the area where Westervelt's gated community(feh) now sits behind LJS part of this neighborhood? Thanks for posting, keep 'em coming.
http://www.tulsatvmemories.com/toyshop.html
Brewster's Toy Shop Memories on Tulsa TV
http://www.tulsatvmemories.com/brewster.html
Love the snapshots Hometown. I really like the one of you holding the doll, with the car peeking out of the bushes in the background. Looks like a 1957-1960 DeSoto to me (Firedome, Firesweep, Fireflite?), with the triple tailights. A "Forward Look" Chrysler product, like the 1957 Plymouth buried downtown, soon to be unearthed. That was back when cars had more personality and you could tell a make just by a glimpse of the tailights!
I have shoeboxes full of similar family photos from the same time period in Tulsa. If I figure out how to post photos, maybe I will start a "Your Favorite Childhood Tulsa Photos" thread!
You guys inspired me and I found some more pictures from Locust Grove Park.
It looks like someone has been doing that doll's hair, Steve. I'll have to tell you about my little sister's Skipper one of these days.
This first photograph is me and my little sister next to the tennis court in Locust Grove Park. You can see Cincinnati and 14th behind the tennis court. The park also had a playground set for younger kids.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/MeSistenniscrt.jpg)
Here's the tennis court from a different angle with houses on 14th in the background. I don't remember the girls with me.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/KidsTennisCrt14th.jpg)
You can see a little slice of the park on the left from this vantage point on 14th Street looking up the hill towards Carolina then Detroit. The houses across the top are on Detroit facing the park. These are probably neighbors.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/LookingtowardDetroit.jpg)
I also found a picture of the other house on Norfolk in Tracy Park Addition. It still stands and I wanted to include it because the house is so beautifully proportioned. We must have already moved out when this photograph was taken. The Highway and Expressway really decimated Tracy Park Addition. Double AA pointed out that there was a later redevelopment of a gated community that took out several blocks of Tracy Park Addition too. I drove by the gated community today and those houses don't compare well to the houses that were there before.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/9lalo9/ThehouseonNorfolk.jpg)
I remember vividly those swings with the painted horse figures. At the same time you lived by Locust Grove park (1957-1961), my family lived at 2246 S. Gary, directly across the street from Madelene Catholic Church and near Florence Park. We spent many a summer day at Florence Park and I remember those exact same swings and the splash pool there too.
In the fall of 1960, my parents contracted to have a new home built on the outskirts of Tulsa in the new Leisure Lanes subdivision at 20th St. and 69th E. Ave., built by Jim Nuckolls' Royal Homes company. (Probably around the same time that your family moved into Lortondale.) We moved in there in the spring of 1961, when that area of 21st street (Hale High School area) was still "out in the country." Jim Nuckolls was a major Tulsa home builder in the 1960s, building in Leisure Lanes, Longview, Sungate and many of the Park Plaza subdivisions.
Our subdivision, Leisure Lanes, was developed mainly by Jim Nuckolls and Ramon King. Ramon King was the father of Sharon King-Davis, whose name you see pop up in the papers recently for historical society functions, centennial planning, or whatever. Funny, all the houses around us that were built by Ramon King had major foundation problems (shifting slabs, water seeping into slab ductwork, faulty plumbing) within 5 years of construction, but the homes built by Jim Nuckolls, such as our house, did not have these problems.
I too remember those horse swings. They were at Kendall park as well as those great elephant slides. And the dangerous merrygorounds.
If you lived in a Jim Nuckolls home, my father and his crew probably painted it. My first home at 4th place and Lewis was Jim Nuckolls first personal home built in the 20's. He was one of the class builders of his time. The reason so many of those slabs failed was that it was a new process at the time and that area was built over old coal pits that settled after the homes were built. Lots of well built homes in those neighborhoods.
They had those horse swings at Woodward park, as well. My dad use to take us on Sundays--we tried to catch tadpoles in the ponds, and spend hours swinging.
quote:
Originally posted by waterboy
If you lived in a Jim Nuckolls home, my father and his crew probably painted it. My first home at 4th place and Lewis was Jim Nuckolls first personal home built in the 20's. He was one of the class builders of his time. The reason so many of those slabs failed was that it was a new process at the time and that area was built over old coal pits that settled after the homes were built. Lots of well built homes in those neighborhoods.
True. Jim Nuckolls' Royal Homes company built quality houses, regardless of price level. My family's home at 6926 E. 20th St. was built in late 1960 and was one of the first houses constructed in the neighborhood by Nuckolls, after the builders' model homes which were directly to the west of our house. That house was on the market about a year ago and I stopped by during an open house, for nostalgia sake. (We lived there from 1961-1973.) Man, that was a creepy feeling going through that house where I grew up and my father died. I had not been in it since 1973. It is a 4 bdrm, 2 bath, 2 living, 2 dining, 2 car rear entry garage house, and except for paint and minor cosmetic details, was exactly the same as when I was a kid. It was obvious that it was built with quality materials and craftsmanship to have held up so well for 46 years. To this day, I can drive through many Tulsa subdivisions from the 1960s and easily identify houses that were built by Nuckolls.
After mom died in 1974, I was going through the estate papers and found the original contracts my parents signed with Nuckolls' firm to build that house. Contracted price was $28,000, including lot, which was on the high end for a mid-priced house in 1960 Tulsa. Financed on a 20-year VA loan, the house payments were $147 per month, including escrows! The house was 1900 sq. ft., small by today's McMansion standards, but quite spacious at the time. And my parents opted for some "frills" such as the built-in AM-FM intercom system, which was the ultimate suburban home gadget in 1960! Boy we had some fun with that intercom, especially scaring kids on Halloween over the front-door speaker! I wish my mother had kept that house in the family instead of selling it in 1973. Hindsight is always 20/20.
pmcalk, I remember catching tadpoles at Woodward Park. I loved Woodward Park especially the old grotto and bridge. Funny thing about those tadpoles. I don't remember any of them living long enough to become frogs. A whole lot of Gardner snakes, frogs, turtles, fireflies and grasshoppers ended up in jeans pockets and didn't survive for long. Poor critters. But kids don't mean to hurt anything.
Thanks so much for the pictures. I can kind of remember those swings, but i can't remember the park. Your pictures made me laugh..kids never wore shoes in the summer back then.
I asked my mom about this park, and she told me that I played there as a toddler when my parents lived at 14th and Baltimore around 1968. As she told me the stories I started to remember it. There was a spray pad that my brother and I used to play in and we would never come out. My dad had to get one of the neighborhood kids to sit on the jet to stop the water so he could come in and get us. I also remember the old carosel there and I have a vague recolection of my little brother hanging on to one of the bars for dear life as his little feet were flying through the air after one of the bigger kids had spun the thing too hard.
It really makes me sad to see how much we've lost.
Here are a couple of homes that were just two blocks to the west at 14th and Boulder.
(http://www.riverviewtulsa.org/images/crosbie1437boulder.bmp)
(http://www.riverviewtulsa.org/images/ashby1421boulder.bmp)
Carltonplace it's hard for me to describe how disappointed I am about everything that has been torn down in Tulsa. The stately old homes on Denver, on 15th between Utica and Lewis, the last of the old Theatres. Downtown? The list goes on and on. And what's going up in their place is changing the feel of Tulsa. Stately old homes make way for Kum & Go.
quote:
Originally posted by Hometown
pmcalk, I remember catching tadpoles at Woodward Park. I loved Woodward Park especially the old grotto and bridge. Funny thing about those tadpoles. I don't remember any of them living long enough to become frogs. A whole lot of Gardner snakes, frogs, turtles, fireflies and grasshoppers ended up in jeans pockets and didn't survive for long. Poor critters. But kids don't mean to hurt anything.
I can't tell you how many animals we tried to "rescue" as kids--baby birds fallen out of the tree, turtles escaping from Swan Lake. Once we caught a whole bag full of tadpoles, which actually survived for some time, almost turning into frogs. Then our dog got thirsty one day, and lapped up the entire fish bowl, frogs & all. Sometimes I think there must be a special place in Heaven for "pets" of small children.
I miss the old horse swings, and I really miss the old metal carosel (I think we called them merry-go-rounds). But, as much as people gripe about playgrounds being overly sanitized for safety (because of lawyers or whatever), you could kinda see the need to get rid of those. Like Carltonplace, I recall many incidents of the big kids getting them going so fast, you could barely hang on. Did anyone spend time on those things without witnessing at least one serious accident? I recall a kid falling so hard he blacked out, and another girl having to get stitches (it didn't help that most had razor sharp metal underneath).
Here is a link to the 1939 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map (//%22http://www.tulsalibrary.org:2204/sanborn/image/view?state=ok&reelid=reel18&lcid=7276&imagename=00391&mapname=Tulsa+1915-July1926vol.1%2C1915-June1962%2C+Sheet+46&clickType=zoom&zoomName=fit-window&zoomValue=0.295634075966132¢erX=162¢erY=188&viewportWidth=925&viewportHeight=700%22) of the area around Locust Grove Park, showing the houses and other buildings from Main to the Midland Valley tracks, 11th to 15th Street. (This is part of a database that the Tulsa Library subscribes to, so you'll be asked for your last name and library card number to log in.) The map is interactive, but clicking the "Download Map" link will open a hi-res PDF of the map.
Wow; I was six years old when we were moved out of that neigborhood in 1973 (I lived on Elgin in between 14th and 15th Street and I can remember the railroad tracks being in my back yard. I remember kindergarden at Lincoln Elementary, I remember Mom buying Ethel gas at the Derby station on 15th St when it was 40 cents a gallon and the car we had was a 1958 Chevy Belair. Gosh, that brings back memories.
We probably went to elementary together then. Remember the candy store that was where Peace of Mind is now?
I remember a Mrs. Lamb, the kindergarden teacher at Lincoln around about '60. Don't you hate what they did to Lincoln. One day I skipped kindergarden class and went home and told our housekeeper that we were sent home because they were installing a pool at school. I don't think she believed me.
I do remember a convenience store on Peoria next to the small commercial building with the curved glass brick Entrance. The building is still there. I would stop at the store on my way home and buy bourbon balls.
I remember Ms Lamb, she taught first grade when I was there. Mrs Zimmerman taught second grade and all of the kids were afraid of her. She livied in one of the Orcutt apts accross the street. Mrs Abraham was 5th grade, Mr Denny was sixth (he called everybody puddin' and wore lots of turquoise). I can't remember the art/science teacher's name. I really dug her though.
I'm OK with the new use for the school. Its a great building. I'm glad it has a new life.
No one had air conditioning in the older parts of town. We had water coolers. Most of the older homes had one large water cooler in the living room. Houses had attic fans. When our housekeeper took us to church with her over in Sand Springs everybody had those handheld fans. And people dressed up more than now. Men wore suits and women wore dresses. No sneakers unless it was gym class. People used to put on their Sunday best to go pick up someone from the airport. Remember that Restaurant at Main and 15th. Or was it Boulder and 15th? I think it was called Jerry's. There was a 100 year old waitress there named Lucille that had a blond beehive. She called everybody, "Honey." They had a $1.50 fried chicken special. Mother used to fill up the car with groceries and spend about $20.
Yes, I fondly remember Jerry's restaurant, for embarrassing reasons I will not go into. It was at 15th & Main. Its name was changed to Comans, and then shortly after changed to Jerry's Comans; these changes all took place between 1962 and 1964. I have a picture of Jerry's at night, shown below.
(http://members.aol.com/raustin13/jerrys.jpg)
Great stuff about Locust Park! My name is Roland Austin, and I attended Riverview Elementary School. I moved to Tulsa in 1960 at age 5. Our house was on the northwest corner of 13th and Baltimore (one block west of the Boston Avenue Methodist Church and Locust Park). We moved from a small rural town and the public pool at Locust Park really excited me! My friends and I spent many a day there, sometimes just shooting the breeze while laying in the big patches of clover that was everywhere; so much, that I found a four-leaf clover about every time I went there. I remember the horse swings, those pictures were great to see. Southeast of the pool was a big tree with a large limb that stretched horizontally... we would all climb up on it and pretend we were flying a jet fighter. I remember the girl workers that would teach the summer crafts... I joined one year just to be around them because I thought they were pretty. Our house was an old mansion that was converted into a duplex when the rich folks moved South. We lived upstairs and I could see Locust park from our balcony porch. I had a clear view all the way down 13th Street and past Boston Avenue. To this day, when I drive my family on the expressway, I always tell them we are now going through Locust Park. What I remember about Horace Mann school, was that our family walked there to eat our sugar cube of Polio vaccine.
Thanks, Roland, for posting that photo of Jerry's. My dad worked across the street in Boulder Towers in the late '70s, so we went by there all the time.
On a related topic, Roland has a great website remembering the Riverview school and neighborhood in the early '60s (//%22http://members.aol.com/raustin13/rivrview.html%22).
The best thing about is thread, is it really shows just how important it is to save our remaining historic neighborhoods from developers. You don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Thank you for all of the information about Locust Grove Park! I was searching for anything about the park that I remember so well and found this! I love the old photographs especially. I grew up in the Florence Park area, but attended Boston Avenue Methodist Church. I have such fond memories of ice cream socials and Easter egg hunts at that wonderful old park. I'm saddened every time I drive by there since the park is completely gone and also all of the lovely old homes.
I was also thrilled to read further and find out about Riverview school over by 12th - 13th and Frisco/Guthrie. I have been by there many times and always wondered if maybe that had at one time been a school. I attended Lanier, Wilson, and Rogers. If any of those are ever torn down, I'll be heartbroken.
Thank you again for bringing back so many wonderful memories.
Good to hear from you Beverly and thank you. I drove through the Gunboat Park neighborhood today. It's still there but it's seen some heavy wear. Needs to be rescued and restored. You can still get a hint of what Tracy Park Addition was like by driving through what remains along the edges of the old neighborhood. A friend was in town recently and we went by his childhood home site at Boston and Jasper. I don't even know the name of that neighborhood but it has been torn down. He said the homes were like Brady Heights. It was an integrated neighborhood that sat on the north side of downtown.
quote:
Originally posted by Hometown
Good to hear from you Beverly and thank you. I drove through the Gunboat Park neighborhood today. It's still there but it's seen some heavy wear. Needs to be rescued and restored. You can still get a hint of what Tracy Park Addition was like by driving through what remains along the edges of the old neighborhood. A friend was in town recently and we went by his childhood home site at Boston and Jasper. I don't even know the name of that neighborhood but it has been torn down. He said the homes were like Brady Heights. It was an integrated neighborhood that sat on the north side of downtown.
Sorry to say, it had become a favorite haunt of drug dealers, prostitution and crime. Too close to downtown so it was razed. Some of the foundations were still visible for many years.
I very much enjoy reading the posts about old neighborhoods in Tulsa, but I don't know where a lot of them are. I've been wondering for a while if there is a website, map or other information that shows the name and boundries of the neighborhoods in Tulsa. Anybody know of such a thing?
quote:
Originally posted by Wingnut
I very much enjoy reading the posts about old neighborhoods in Tulsa, but I don't know where a lot of them are. I've been wondering for a while if there is a website, map or other information that shows the name and boundries of the neighborhoods in Tulsa. Anybody know of such a thing?
That would be helpful, but I'm not aware of one online.
The neighborhood under discussion was between 13th and 15th Streets, Boston and Peoria Avenues. Not much left of it, sadly.
The near northside neighborhood that Hometown mentions was razed specifically to meet the city's commitment to UCAT / Rogers U. / OSU-Tulsa for a 200 acre campus. The homes there were of the same era and construction quality as Brady Heights and North Maple Ridge, mainly two stories with detached garages. You can still see many stoops, sidewalks, and driveways. On Flickr, I came across a photo of one of those remaining stoops -- the person who took the photo mistook it for a ruin from 1921.
quote:
Originally posted by Wingnut
I very much enjoy reading the posts about old neighborhoods in Tulsa, but I don't know where a lot of them are. I've been wondering for a while if there is a website, map or other information that shows the name and boundries of the neighborhoods in Tulsa. Anybody know of such a thing?
You can look at the edition names here:
http://www.assessor.tulsacounty.org/tca_maps_county.htm
Wingnut, I found a fascinating selection of old Tulsa maps in the research department of the main Tulsa Library. There was one from 1917 that was particularly clear and helpful.
You can enter Gunboat Park at 13th & Frankfort, drive towards 11th on Frankfort then return to 13th on Elgin. The streets are laid out in the shape of a Gun Boat. I believe that was done to honor World War I vets. Waterboy would know for sure.
The remnants of Tracy Park Addition can be found immediately behind Tracy Park. Tracy Park is at 11th and Peoria. The big old Modern home immediately adjacent to the Park was the home of Ida R. (need help with last name), the former Central High School art teacher that designed Boston Avenue Methodist Church along with her student – famed architect Bruce Goff.
Even though the neighborhood at Boston and Jasper has been demolished, you can see a similar neighborhood on the north side of downtown by driving north on Denver from downtown. The Brady Heights' mansions stop before Pine but there are lovely Craftsman homes all the way up Denver to Pine. Brady Heights was Tulsa's First Neighborhood and now home to a handful of young urban pioneer families.
If I didn't have to work for a living I would spend some time creating driving tours of old Tulsa neighborhoods. I can picture a brochure with a map and photographs to guide you through the old neighborhoods. Someone please tell the visitor's bureau Hometown is available.
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Originally posted by Hometown
Wingnut, I found a fascinating selection of old Tulsa maps in the research department of the main Tulsa Library. There was one from 1917 that was particularly clear and helpful.
You can enter Gunboat Park at 13th & Frankfort, drive towards 11th on Frankfort then return to 13th on Elgin. The streets are laid out in the shape of a Gun Boat. I believe that was done to honor World War I vets. Waterboy would know for sure.
The remnants of Tracy Park Addition can be found immediately behind Tracy Park. Tracy Park is at 11th and Peoria. The big old Modern home immediately adjacent to the Park was the home of Ida R. (need help with last name), the former Central High School art teacher that designed Boston Avenue Methodist Church along with her student – famed architect Bruce Goff.
Even though the neighborhood at Boston and Jasper has been demolished, you can see a similar neighborhood on the north side of downtown by driving north on Denver from downtown. The Brady Heights' mansions stop before Pine but there are lovely Craftsman homes all the way up Denver to Pine. Brady Heights was Tulsa's First Neighborhood and now home to a handful of young urban pioneer families.
If I didn't have to work for a living I would spend some time creating driving tours of old Tulsa neighborhoods. I can picture a brochure with a map and photographs to guide you through the old neighborhoods. Someone please tell the visitor's bureau Hometown is available.
Adah Robinson was the name of the architect, and that is her home on the southeast corner of 11th Place and Owasso Avenue.
Driving tours of old neighborhoods is a great idea.
I love Adah Robinson's home! I admire it every time I drive down 11th Street. After recently reading a wonderful book about her, I learned of another of her Tulsa homes on 26th Street. She lived in that (26th St.) one later in her life.
Didn't Jennifer Jones (Phyllis Isley) live around 12th and Owasso at one time? I know she later lived in a home close to Lee Elementary.
We're going to drive through some of the old neighborhoods that have been mentioned on here this weekend. We've heard that this is the last week for the flea market to be in the current building at the fairgrounds. Someone told me that they plan to tear that old building down. I have to go say good bye to it tomorrow. I'm still so mad about Bell's.
Thank you again for all of the great information on this site! I love it!
BeverlyW58@hotmail.com
Speaking of driving tours of old neighborhoods, a few years ago there was something called the "Tulsa Walk." It had various routes to take according to how far you wanted to walk. I absolutely loved it and kept the information. I remember the route we chose took us around Swan Lake and told so many interesting pieces of information about the homes. The walks all started on Cherry Street.
Do anyone know if this still goes on? If it does, I haven't heard about it in a few years.
Beverly
SGrizzle,
Thank you for the link! That is just what I was looking for.
MB & Hometown, Thank you for the information on the neighborhoods. Gunboat Park sounds facinating! I'm going to go check that out first chance I get.
I have also thought about a driving map of the cool neighborhoods around town. When we have out-of-towners in for a visit, we pil them into the van and go drive around showing them the neat old houses and such. Of course, I drive. I do it as much for me as them!
To reinvent the wheel, I would love to do a photo book of art-deco stuff around Tulsa.
Something neat I saw years ago...When I worked as a courier delivering stuff downtown I noticed Sooner Federal Savings on Boston had a set of doors on the building that must have been 8-10 feet high with a rough texture on them. I took a good close look at them one day and it was actually a hugh, raised relief map of Tulsa with the river, tall buildings, roads and such. I thought it was the coolest thing I had seen in a while. Since it's not Sooner anymore, I wounder what happened to those doors since it's been remodeled. It seems that they should be in the historical society or something. I believe there were 2 set of them. Anyone know their whereabouts??
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Originally posted by Wingnut
Something neat I saw years ago...When I worked as a courier delivering stuff downtown I noticed Sooner Federal Savings on Boston had a set of doors on the building that must have been 8-10 feet high with a rough texture on them. I took a good close look at them one day and it was actually a hugh, raised relief map of Tulsa with the river, tall buildings, roads and such. I thought it was the coolest thing I had seen in a while. Since it's not Sooner anymore, I wounder what happened to those doors since it's been remodeled. It seems that they should be in the historical society or something. I believe there were 2 set of them. Anyone know their whereabouts??
They are now in the lobby of the building where FedexKinko's and Schnake Turnbo Frank are located at 4th and Boston. I just saw them a week or so ago.
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Originally posted by Wingnut
To reinvent the wheel, I would love to do a photo book of art-deco stuff around Tulsa.
You'd better hurry. We are losing our Art Deco buildings.