Lynne's Lens
Downtown OKC, 1940's
Photo by Ronald Gordon.
The building with the beacon on top is the First National Bank building, designed by Weary & Alford, and constructed in 1931. This Art Deco masterpiece is one of our best downtown treasures and is in excellent original condition.
Here's some history about it:
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20080111/ai_n211...
www.retrometrookc.org/first-national-center-collection
The old Ramsey Tower (now City Place) is the skyscraper in the background. It was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager (who designed many notable buildings throughout the country) and was also built in 1931.
There was a big race to see which of these two buildings would be completed first, and Ramsey Tower beat First National by a hair.
Here's some info about Ahlschlager:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_W._Ahlschlager
www.compassrose.org/downloads/Ahlschlager.pdf
cinematreasures.org/architect/3/
www.emporis.com/application/?nav=company&lng=3&id...
And photos of the old Ramsey Building:
www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/vintage/1.ramsey.htm
And here's a photo of the Hales Building that you see in the foreground -- it was demolished during the urban renewal that destroyed so much of downtown OKC in the 70's:
okhistory.org/research/hillerman/results.php?mapnoinput=2...
Some history about the Hales Building:
www.retrometrookc.org/the-hales-collection
If you click on the Photo Gallery folder at the bottom of the page, you can see a lot of photos of the interior of the building when it was first constructed (as a bank), as well as photos of its demolition.
Downtown OKC, 1940's
Photo by Ronald Gordon.
The building with the beacon on top is the First National Bank building, designed by Weary & Alford, and constructed in 1931. This Art Deco masterpiece is one of our best downtown treasures and is in excellent original condition.
Here's some history about it:
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20080111/ai_n211...
www.retrometrookc.org/first-national-center-collection
The old Ramsey Tower (now City Place) is the skyscraper in the background. It was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager (who designed many notable buildings throughout the country) and was also built in 1931.
There was a big race to see which of these two buildings would be completed first, and Ramsey Tower beat First National by a hair.
Here's some info about Ahlschlager:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_W._Ahlschlager
www.compassrose.org/downloads/Ahlschlager.pdf
cinematreasures.org/architect/3/
www.emporis.com/application/?nav=company&lng=3&id...
And photos of the old Ramsey Building:
www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/vintage/1.ramsey.htm
And here's a photo of the Hales Building that you see in the foreground -- it was demolished during the urban renewal that destroyed so much of downtown OKC in the 70's:
okhistory.org/research/hillerman/results.php?mapnoinput=2...
Some history about the Hales Building:
www.retrometrookc.org/the-hales-collection
If you click on the Photo Gallery folder at the bottom of the page, you can see a lot of photos of the interior of the building when it was first constructed (as a bank), as well as photos of its demolition.