New Oklahoma National Register Listings includes Ponca City Home

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

ALCORN-PICKREL HOUSE, Ponca City

The Alcorn-Pickrel House located at 200 N. 10th Street in Ponca City, Kay County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance for its Prairie School architectural style. John S. Alcorn, one of the vice presidents of E. W. Marland’s oil company, hired Elmer Boillot to design a modern home. Influenced by the Prairie School style that was popular in the early 20th century, especially in the Midwest, Boillot designed a two-story home on the lot. The house exhibits architectural features common to the Prairie School outside and inside. In the little over 100 years that the building has existed, very few changes have occurred to the exterior and interior of the home, thus the home retains its architectural integrity. The period of significance begins with the construction of the home in 1918 and coincides with the oil boom in the Ponca City area.

SCHULTZ/NEAL STONE BARN, Red Rock

The Schultz/Neal Stone Barn, located off U.S. Highway 177/OK 15 in the Red Rock vicinity of rural Noble County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance for Architecture with a period of significance of 1941, the year construction was completed, to 1954, when repairs following a 1951 fire are documented to have been completed. The barn was built on behalf of Richard Schultz, president of Red Rock State Bank, who was among the wealthiest individuals in Noble County. Schultz recruited as many as 30 workers to build the structure. Many of these workers were German Americans, and some had worked previously on the E. W. Marland Mansion (NRIS #73001561) in Ponca City. In 1947 John Byron “Cowboy” Neal leased the ranchland that included the barn and continued to use the property until the early 1990s, utilizing the barn primarily for hay storage. By all accounts, the Schultz/Neal Stone Barn is “the largest free-standing rock barn” in Oklahoma and is a prominent local landmark in Noble County.

BRIDGEPORT (PONY) BRIDGE, Canadian County

The construction of the Bridgeport Bridge, located at North U.S. Highway 281 over the South Canadian River in Caddo County, challenged the Oklahoma State Highway Commission because of its difficult crossing and existing tensions between the commission and the Bureau of Public Roads over routing and design. During an arduous period of negotiations, with its funding at one point nearly halted, the highway agencies devised a mutually acceptable plan that could withstand the river’s vagaries with an eye toward economization. The bridge is comprised of a series of 38 identical standard camelback pony truss spans, erected over concrete piers sitting on pneumatic foundations. Completed in 1933 and spanning 3,944 feet, it was Oklahoma’s longest bridge, the longest toll-free crossing on U.S. Highway 66, and the longest example of its type in the United States. The bridge was previously listed as a contributing resource to the National Register of Historic Places as the Bridgeport Hill–Hydro Route 66 Segment (NRIS #04000129) at the local level of significance, but is now individually listed at the national level of significance with a period of significance of 1933 to 1962 for Transportation and Engineering.

YOUNG CEMETERY, Carter County

The Young Cemetery, located off Seven Sisters Hills Road near U.S. Highway 177 in rural Carter County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance under Criterion A for Exploration/Settlement and Ethnic Heritage: Native American. The period of significance extends from the establishment of the cemetery and its first burial in 1887 through 1933, the approximate year that the land of the Young Community was sold to Charles Goddard and incorporated into the more than 12,000-acre Goddard Ranch. The site is significant as the final resting place of those who settled in and developed the no longer extant community of Young, Indian Territory, and their descendants, and it is the only remaining evidence of this once-bustling little community.  The Young family, who established the town and the cemetery, was of Chickasaw descent and many interred there are of Chickasaw heritage. The Young Cemetery is still used by their descendants today.

HOTEL LOWREY, Poteau

The Hotel Lowrey located at 301 Dewey Ave. in Poteau, LeFlore County, on the town’s main commercial thoroughfare, is locally significant in the area of Commerce with a period of significance of 1922, when the building was built, to 1965, the date at which the hotel closed and it shifted to college housing. It was Poteau’s largest commercial office and retail building, and it remains the town’s largest building of the Classical Revival style. In 1931 and 1932 additional Classical Revival details were added, exterior window upgrades were made, and the interior was slightly reconfigured so that the building became a combined hotel and office building. It represents the town’s business and commercial development during the 1920s and 1930s as part of a national pattern of town boosterism by typical local entrepreneurs during an era of economic expansion and population mobility.

McCLEAN FAMILY RESIDENCE, Oklahoma City

The McClean Family Residence located at 141 NE 26th Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance for Architecture. Built in 1911, the home is an outstanding local example of Prairie School architecture in what was originally the rural outskirts of northeast Oklahoma City. Members of the McClean family—including John, his wife Nellie, and their daughters Ila and Frances—occupied the home for almost 80 years. Most notably, Ila and Frances, along with Frances’s husband, Ossie Perry Estes, and their three sons, resided in the home for more than 50 years. The historic use of the building as a single-family home is unique in an area of Oklahoma City otherwise characterized by commercial warehouses, offices, oil wells and the Oklahoma State Capitol Complex. The McClean Family Residence recalls the early, rural history of northeast Oklahoma City.

TULSA BOYS’ HOME HISTORIC DISTRICT, Tulsa

The Tulsa Boys’ Home Historic District, bounded by East Eighth Street, South Quincy Avenue, East Seventh Street, and South Rockford Avenue in Tulsa, Tulsa County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance for Social History. The Tulsa Boys’ Home Historic District was the first and only institutional childcare facility for adolescent boys in Tulsa and is one of the oldest continually operated institutional childcare facilities in the city. Founded in 1918, the Tulsa Boys’ Home housed homeless and troubled boys aged 10 to 16. The home began with five boys in a wood-frame house, expanding and relocating as demand for its services grew. In 1927 the Tulsa Boys’ Home purchased a former girls’ home site at the listed site, increasing its capacity to 50 boys. It remained at this location for the next 50 years. The current complex was designed by Tulsa architect Joseph Koberling and constructed from 1949 to 1963 to replace the outdated wood-frame buildings with five larger, more modern institutional buildings. Four of the five buildings were dormitories, and one building housed administrative and social services. The large-scale expansion of the home illustrates the importance of the Tulsa Boys’ Home in Tulsa’s institutional childcare history as the only provider of care for adolescent boys in the city. The period of significance begins in 1949 with the initial construction of the existing buildings and ends in 1978 when the Tulsa Boys’ Home relocated to Sand Springs.

First United Methodist Church, Bartlesville

The First United Methodist Church at 500 S. Johnstone Ave. in Bartlesville, Washington County, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance for Architecture as an excellent example of the architectural evolution of religious facilities during the 20th century. The First United Methodist Church represents four construction phases that occurred over a 60-year period between 1927 and 1987. Each wing represents its era of construction through architectural style. Although each portion of the building was constructed during a separate phase, continuity of materials and architectural elements unify the sections and create a cohesive complex. The 1954 Modern Movement A-frame sanctuary represents the second construction phase and operates as the central functional component of the church complex. Secondary complex elements include the 1927 education wing, 1956 Sneed Chapel, and the 1987 administration and education wing addition. The 1927 education wing communicates a restrained expression of the Collegiate Gothic style. In contrast, the dramatic A-frame form of the 1954 sanctuary, with its buff brick and concrete exterior, was an early example of an architectural trend that moved away from previous revival styles in religious architecture during the mid-20th century. The 1956 Modern Movement Sneed Chapel employs the same materials to visually and physically link the 1954 A-frame sanctuary to the 1927 wing. The 1987 administration and education wing expresses a Post-Modern aesthetic through exaggerated crenellations and pointed arch windows.

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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.