TULSA Photo Tour (2nd Most Art Deco-Only To Miami)

[plinko]

...as explained by BG918...



Mid-Continent was never the tallest building West of the Mississippi.

Beautiful photos! Spent one year living in Tulsa when I was 14 and it was a very large, but very safe city to explore in for a kid. Used to either ride from 61st and Riverside or take the bus into DT and sketch. I definitely have a soft spot for that city...

[SnyderBock]

Originally Posted by plinko

...as explained by BG918...
Mid-Continent was never the tallest building West of the Mississippi.

Now hold on........ I didn't just make that fact up! Here are the facts about the Mid-Continent Tower from Emporis.com:

- The Cosden Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
- 80,000 pieces of terra cotta were cast for the facade
- Tulsa's first reinforced concrete office structure and once tallest west of the Mississippi
- The orginal building was completed in 1918 and known as the Cosden Building, after Joshua Cosden, a Tulsa oil baron
- The original building was 16 stories high
- After restoration in 1980, a twin tower was built to the east which supports a 20 floor addition cantilevered above the original building.
- It is connected to the Kennedy Building by a tunnel running under East 4th Street.

[SmileyBoy]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

I have a friend in Fargo, ND...

She had been living in Colorado Springs, until her boyfriend - Rapper D.B.O. - got shot and died in her arms in a motel room there in the Springs. Now she's back in Fargo. She says it's called the KKK paradise and says people always look at her evil because her little daughter is only half white. I doubt it's as bad as she makes it out to be. You find that anywhere you have populations of predominantly white people. These populations have been slower to change, because they don't interact with people of other races as much. You find that here in Oklahoma too, just like you do in Colorado, and New Orleans. I told her not to worry about those things, because she can't change what other people think. I encouraged her to make long term plans, then write out small steps needed to achieve them and start chipping away at it! What she does with her life,... that, she can change!

I don't think any organized racist organizations exist here, but unfortunately you'll find racism everywhere. Even Minneapolis has a lot of racism. (I lived there for 12 years, I should know.) People here in Fargo are actually very tolerant of the Sudanese refugee population that's coming to this city, for example. A lot of Sudanese go to my college right now. Of course, I live on the NDSU campus, which is probably the most liberal 2 square miles of land in the entire state, which isn't saying much.

[NBTX11]

^^I think they meant Pittsburgh Penguins.

[plinko]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

Now hold on........ I didn't just make that fact up! Here are the facts about the Mid-Continent Tower from Emporis.com:
- Tulsa's first reinforced concrete office structure and once tallest west of the Mississippi

I know alot about this building. My uncle designed the two tunnels to the parking garages. That and I don't take anything on Emporis as gospel.

I'd love to know how it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when the 467' Smith Tower was built in Seattle in 1914?

In 1918 (West of the Mississippi):

Smith Tower Seattle 467' 38 1914
Daniels & Fisher Tower Denver 325' 20 1910
City Hall San Francisco 307' 4 1915
Hobart Building San Francisco 285' 21 1914
State Capitol Denver 272' 1908
State Capitol Sacramento 247' 6 1874
Ferry Building San Francisco 245' 12 1898
Cosden Building (Mid-Continent) Tulsa ~220' 16 1918

Probably missed a bunch of other state capitols too!

[SnyderBock]

Good point. Maybe Emporis.com have wrong or misleading information about this building then?

[ltsmotorsport]

It wouldn't be the first time.


Some really good shots of the skyline. My dad lived his first 10 years in the area (Broken Arrow) in the 50's. My grandparents tell me how much it's changed since then, but I can only imagine seeing it first hand.

[Wheelingman04]

Wonderful photos.

[azcats02]

Originally Posted by NBTX11

^^I think they meant Pittsburgh Penguins.

IF the penguins move...which is a pretty strong IF...they are going to Kansas City.

[Paul in S.A TX]

I lived in Tulsa for about a year.I enjoyed it, nice town.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by plinko

In 1918 (West of the Mississippi):

Smith Tower Seattle 467' 38 1914
Daniels & Fisher Tower Denver 325' 20 1910
City Hall San Francisco 307' 4 1915
Hobart Building San Francisco 285' 21 1914
State Capitol Denver 272' 1908
State Capitol Sacramento 247' 6 1874
Ferry Building San Francisco 245' 12 1898
Cosden Building (Mid-Continent) Tulsa ~220' 16 1918

Probably missed a bunch of other state capitols too!

Yes, you forgot the Texas State Capitol which was the tallest building in Texas for 35 years, and the tallest in Austin for 82 years. It was the first building in Texas to be taller than 300 feet.

Austin - Texas State Capitol - 311 feet - 4 floors - 1888
Waco - Alico Building 282 feet - 22 floors - 1910

[SuperstarMark]

Thanks for the tour, Snyder! The Tulsa Union Depot pics are killer.