Architecture

Transformed from a cattle depot into the Oil Capital of the World, Tulsa emerged as an iconic Jazz Age metropolis. The Magic City attracted some of the nation's most talented architects, including Bruce Goff, Francis Barry Byrne, Frank Lloyd Wright, Joseph R. Koberling Jr., Leon B. Senter and Frederick Kershner. Like their brazen oil baron clients, they were not afraid to take chances, and the city still reflects the splendor of that fabulous era. Writer Suzanne Wallis and photographer Sam Joyner celebrate the city's enduring Art Deco legacy and its daring revival.

Going to the movies has always been special. Tulsa's first theater opened in 1906 with a lineup of silent reels and live vaudeville entertainment. During the next two decades, dozens of movie houses opened downtown, including the "Big Four:" the Ritz, Orpheum, Majestic, and Rialto. As Tulsa grew, neighborhood theaters, including the Brook, Delman, and Will Rogers, became favorites. Drive-in theaters soon followed around the city boundaries. In 1965, Tulsa's first multiplex--the Boman Twin--opened. Tulsans experienced blockbuster films at these theaters with multiple screens and increasingly smaller auditoriums. Tulsa also hosted star-studded movie premieres. Among them were The Outsiders and the 1949 premiere of Tulsa, featuring the biggest parade and crowd in Tulsa's history. Perhaps the most well-known theater--the Dreamland on Black Wall Street--was destroyed during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Although it was rebuilt, images of the Dreamland in ruins are iconic.

The architecture of Kay County reflects the rich history of the communities of the county, from the early sustenance days of the land run to the mid1950s era of stability. The architecture of each era displays the economic climate of the times as well as showing how residents viewed themselves. The buildings included in this volume, beginning with a sampling of those at Chilocco Indian School and ending with those of the mid1950s, are tangible reminders of the lives of the people who built them, used them, and lived in them. The images were carefully selected from museums and personal collections across the county as well as from Bret A. Carter's extensive personal collection.