The Stonebraker Heights Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. [†]
Description
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District is located just about a mile south of downtown Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. The Stonebraker Heights Historic District encompasses blocks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the thirteen block Stonebraker Heights Addition to the city of Tulsa. The addition was platted in September 1910 by H.M. and Bessie Stonebraker. The portions of the original addition not included in the district lack historic integrity due to demolition of historic resources to allow for construction of parking lots and modern apartment buildings. Despite the loss of these areas, the remaining intact portions of the addition represent an excellent collection of popular architectural styles in Tulsa during the period.
In all, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District includes ninety-one resources. All of the properties are buildings with the majority being single family homes. There are no religious, educational or originally commercial buildings in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District. However, some of the houses along South Denver Avenue have changed functions from domestic to commercial. The houses are predominately used as office space for a variety of professionals. For the most part, these properties retain their original domestic appearance sufficiently to be considered contributing resources. Of the total ninety resources, sixty-eight buildings, equaling seventy-five percent, contribute to the Stonebraker Heights Historic District's significance, being present during the period of significance and retaining their historic integrity. Representing just twenty-five percent of the district, sixteen resources are noncontributing due to a lack of integrity with an additional seven being noncontributing due to insufficient age.
There is one contributing property within the Stonebraker Heights Historic District, the Robert McFarlin House at 1610 South Carson Avenue West, which is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The McFarlin House was listed on January 25, 1979 for its architectural significance as an excellent example of the Italian Renaissance style in Tulsa. The two-story, brick mansion was designed by the St. Louis, Missouri, architectural firm of Barnett-Haynes-Barnett in 1918.
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District's period of significance extends from 1910 to 1922. The period of significance starts the same year that the area was platted as construction commenced fairly quickly with two existing homes being lived in by 1911 and two more the following year. Building activity within the neighborhood peaked in the mid-teen years with seventy-six of the extant properties, representing eighty-four percent of the district, being erected in the five-year period between 1913 and 1918. Although the pace of development dropped considerably, the late teens through the early-1920s witnessed the erection of three additional houses. Construction ceased in the neighborhood after 1922 until post-World War II except for two homes on South Elwood Avenue West. Just three existing houses were built between 1945 and 1963. More recently, beginning in 1999, two houses and one garage/apartment have been erected in the district. Encompassing the development of ninety-one percent of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District, the period of significance ends in 1922.
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District includes all of blocks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 of the Stonebraker Heights Addition to the city of Tulsa. Additionally, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District contains over half of Block 8 of the addition. Due to the construction of large, modern apartment buildings, the south portion of Block 8, as well as all of blocks 7, 12 and 13, were excluded from the district boundaries. In addition to the demolition of the majority of historic resources on blocks 7 and 12, West Seventeenth Street was abandoned in this section of the neighborhood in the 1960s, changing the historic rhythm of the south central section of the addition. Notably, the thirty-two story, University Club Towers, built in about 1964, is located on the south edge of Block 12 and is visible in many of the photographs of the district. Block 11 of the Stonebraker Heights Addition was excluded from the district due to the large, visible break in integrity in the south portion of Block 8. Similarly, Block 10 was not included due to the large black-topped parking lot which replaced one of the four large mansions originally standing at the intersection of South Seventeenth Street and South Cheyenne Avenue.
As originally conceived, the blocks of the Stonebraker Heights Addition were systematically laid out following the traditional grid pattern which dominated residential development in Tulsa. Due to land constraints, the east side blocks of the addition are half blocks which match the dimensions of the half blocks in the adjacent plats. The other blocks of the addition are full blocks that align to the overall pattern of development of the surrounding plats. This allowed for the continuation of the area streets without interruption. As such, the rows of blocks on the north and south edges are shorter than the middle blocks and the center blocks between South Denver and Carson avenues are wider than the other blocks of the addition.
In order to maximize land development in the addition, a street spanning only this addition was platted in the near center of the plat. West 16th Place, originally called Naharky Place, matches the dimensions of the other streets in the addition and allowed construction to occur in the middle lots of both blocks 6 and 7. Being center blocks, both blocks 6 and 7 were wider than the flanking blocks 5 and 8 but combined are the same length as the side blocks. Thus, the lack of a street between blocks 6 and 7 would have created a large empty space in the center of the addition.
Due to the original design of the neighborhood, the north-south streets in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District clearly dominate. Except for blocks 3 and 6, all of the lots in the district have a north-south orientation. On each side of both blocks 3 and 6, are three lots which front onto the secondary, numbered streets of the addition. Construction activity in the district followed the original pattern with the majority of houses facing onto the north-south streets. However, several of the houses, particularly in the west side of the district such as the properties in the 300 block of West 17th Street, were situated sideways onto the lots. This allowed the houses to exploit the maximum limits of the lot while also taking full advantage of the potential views of the property.
Another significant deviation in the design of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District was the erection of several large houses for various upper class Tulsa business and civic leaders. In addition to the Robert McFarlin House at 1610 South Carson Avenue West, there is the Wrightsman Mansion at 1645 South Cheyenne Avenue West and the first Joshua Cosden House, also known as Mission Manor, at 1606 South Carson Avenue West. While the Wrightsman Mansion is situated on the far southeast corner of the district, the Cosden and McFarlin houses are located next door to each other in the approximate center of the district. All three of these houses occupy more than one lot with the McFarlin House historically encompassing almost five lots on the southeast side of Block 6. The Cosden House is centrally located on two plus of the north-south lots also of Block 6. The Wrightsman Mansion covers two lots at the intersection of South Cheyenne Avenue and West 17th Street which historically contained equal-sized houses on two of the opposite corners.
All of the north-south streets in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District, consisting of South Cheyenne Avenue, Carson Avenue, Denver Avenue and Elwood Avenue, are as they were originally named. All of the north-south roads except for South Carson Avenue extend north into downtown Tulsa. The streets all terminate at various points to the south of the district due to the diagonal presence of the Arkansas River which effectively halts residential development in this section of town. On the south end, South Cheyenne Avenue West extends to West 21st Street South. South Carson Avenue begins on the north side at West 11th Street South and runs south to only West 19th Street South. Both South Denver Avenue West and South Elwood Avenue West terminate at their intersection with the diagonal Riverside Drive.
Three of the east-west streets in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District retain their original names. Located on the north side of the district, both West 15th and West 16th streets were included on the Stonebraker Heights plat. On the south side, West 17th Street South also maintains its historic moniker. While West 15th Street begins to the west at Riverside Drive, West 16th and 17th streets originate on the west side at Elwood Avenue. All three streets continue east through various residential neighborhoods. As discussed above, Naharky Place was the original name of the only block-long street in the district, currently named West 16th Place South. The 1915 Sanborn Map recorded the name of the street as Harkey Place, which was probably a misspelling of Naharky. The subsequent 1939 Sanborn Map notes the change of name to West 16th Place while also incorrectly recording the former name of the street as "Naharkey."
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District is dominated stylistically by the Bungalow/Craftsman style with thirty-five examples. Composing thirty-nine percent of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District, this style of home flourished nationally from about 1905 to 1930. Although the typical Bungalow house was one-story with a moderately-pitched, gabled roof, two-story Craftsman Bungalow examples dominate in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District. Of the total thirty-five Bungalow/Craftsman houses in the district, twenty-one are of the Craftsman variety and fourteen are the more typical Bungalows. Bungalow/Craftsman style homes generally identified by their moderate- to low-pitched, gabled roofs and full-width or partial, front-gabled porches with tapered wood columns on brick or stone piers supporting the porch roof. Decorative details common to the Bungalow/Craftsman style include exposed rafters, double and triple windows and triangular knee braces.
The next most prevalent style in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District is the Prairie School style. Having twenty-four representations in the district, this style represents twenty-six percent of the existing housing stock. The Prairie School style was nationally popular from about 1900 to 1920. The typical Prairie School style house was a two-story, square building topped by a low-pitched, hipped roof with broad, overhanging eaves. The facades are typically symmetrical with a full-width, single-story front porch. The low-pitched, hipped porch roofs are usually supported by massive piers topped by wood columns.
Also having a good showing in the neighborhood is the Colonial Revival style. The third most popular style in the district, there are fourteen Colonial Revival style buildings in Stonebraker Heights, equaling sixteen percent. As the dominant style of residential buildings nationwide in the first half of the twentieth century, the Colonial Revival style had nine different subtypes. Character defining features of the style include an accentuated front door, symmetrical facade and paired windows, often ornamented with decorative wood shutters.
Other styles present in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District include the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance, both with four. There are three No Distinctive style buildings, all garage/apartments. Additionally, there are two examples each of the Tudor Revival, Minimal Traditional and Neo-Tudor Revival. There is one additional property which was classified as Modern Movement.
The boundaries of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District were drawn to include all the area of the Stonebraker Heights Addition which maintains its historic integrity. The north boundary of the addition, West 15th Street South, remains a natural division point in the larger residential area. The street is a four-laned, major thoroughfare in this section of Tulsa. On the east side of the district, South Cheyenne Avenue West serves as a barrier between historic residential development and modern, commercial redevelopment. For several blocks to the north and east of the district, the original properties were overwhelmingly demolished following the late 1960s construction of the Inner Dispersal Loop (also known as the Broken Arrow Expressway) and subsequent expansion of the commercial enterprises of downtown Tulsa into the area. The irregular south boundary also creates a line dividing historic, single family development from modern, multifamily construction. Due to obvious deviations in scale, design, materials and style, the modern apartment buildings are not compatible with the historic environs of the district. Like the north boundary, the west boundary provides a natural and historic edge to the Stonebraker Heights Historic District. While there is historic housing to the west of South Elwood Avenue West, it does not maintain the character, rhythm and cohesiveness of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District.
The dates of construction for the properties in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District were arrived at using a combination of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and the available, Tulsa crisscross city directories. The district area was not included on the 1911 Sanborn map but is completely illustrated on the 1915, 1939 and 1962 maps. The 1912 city directory was the first Tulsa directory which was cross referenced by address. Due to the overall adherence by the properties to the lot and block lines of the plat map, it is unlikely any properties in the district were erected prior to late 1910 when the addition was platted so the available directories proved to be sufficient to adequately date all of the properties in the district.
Alterations
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District maintains a fairly high degree of integrity with a seventy-five percent contributing rate. Included among the sixty-eight contributing properties is the already listed Robert McFarlin House at 1610 South Carson Avenue West. Of the noncontributing properties, only seven properties were constructed after the period of significance. Only sixteen of the remaining eighty-four resources are historic houses which have lost a sufficient amount of their original character to cause them to be considered noncontributing.
Over the passage of time, minor modifications have been made to many of the individual houses. Although each house is assessed for its overall retention of historic integrity, there are several common alterations which affect the categorization of the property as contributing or noncontributing. The most frequent alteration is the covering of the original wall material with asbestos shingle or aluminum or vinyl siding. Buildings with replacement siding are usually counted as contributing unless the replacement wall material was applied in an inappropriate manner, such as a vertical direction.
A property is almost always considered noncontributing if the front porch has been completely infilled or enclosed in a permanent manner. The permanent enclosure of the porch dramatically alters the feel and design of the house, particularly for the Prairie School and Bungalow/Craftsman styles where the porch is one of the major defining features. Typically in a porch enclosure, the original openings are filled with windows and some type of filler material such as wood or brick. If the porch is only screened, this does not impact the contributing/noncontributing status of the property. The enclosure of a side porch does not have as dramatic impact on the integrity of the house and consequently does not by itself impact the contributing/noncontributing determination.
Additions to the property impact the contributing/noncontributing status of the building depending largely on the location of the addition, as well as size. If the addition is confined to the back of the property, this does not affect the status of the house. If the addition is attached to the side and alters the view of the facade, the house is typically determined to be noncontributing. A second story addition after the period of significance automatically results in the classification of the property as noncontributing due to the radical change in the building's historic design. Similar to other modifications, other types of additions are viewed on an individual basis with the deciding factor being the impact on the house's integrity of design, feeling and association.
Significance
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District is an excellent collection of period houses in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Stonebraker Heights Historic District is dominated by Bungalow/Craftsman, Prairie School and Colonial Revival style houses. Representing eighty percent of the housing in the district, all three of these styles enjoyed widespread popularity at the time of the neighborhood's development. The combination of these three styles in the district is reflective of the dominant mid-teen development of the neighborhood. While Bungalow/Craftsman style homes continued to be built throughout Tulsa's historic neighborhoods through the 1920s, the Prairie School style fell out of popular favor by the early 1920s and the Colonial Revival style was overwhelmingly eclipsed by the Tudor Revival style in Tulsa beginning in the mid to late 1920s.
The period of significance for the Stonebraker Heights Historic District extends from 1910 through 1922. Beginning with the year that the Stonebraker Heights Addition was platted, the period of significance ends in 1922 when ninety-one percent of the extant houses had been erected. Of note within the period of significance is the five year span between 1913 and 1918. It was during this time frame that seventy-six of the existing houses were built. This represents eighty-four percent of the construction activity for the district.
Historic Background
The town of Tulsa existed as early 1879 when a post office was established on the Perryman Ranch in the Creek Nation. The town, first called "Tulsey Town," grew slowly. During the early 1880s, the town was a haven for gamblers and "bad men" due to its isolation. At the time of the first government townsite survey in Indian Territory in 1900, Tulsa's population stood at merely 1,390.[1]
Shortly after this survey, a momentous event occurred near Tulsa, Indian Territory. This event not only had a major impact on Tulsa but the entire future state of Oklahoma. In 1901, the state's first important commercial oil well blew in. Located in Red Fork, this landmark well was across the Arkansas River from Tulsa. Two years later, the Secretary of the Interior allowed the leasing of restricted Indian Territory lands under Department of the Interior supervision. The oil rush was on as oil men from Pennsylvania and other states flocked to Indian Territory. In 1904, three men built a toll bridge over the Arkansas River connecting Red Fork and Tulsa. In addition to allowing Tulsa to benefit from the Red Fork strike, the toll bridge also enabled the town to profit from the fabulous 1905 Glenn Pool strike which blew in. Within months of the discovery, the Glenn Pool field was "famous throughout the industry as the richest small field in the world."[2]
At the time of Oklahoma's statehood in 1907, Tulsa's population had jumped to 7,298, an increase of nearly six thousand in just seven years. In just three years, Tulsa's population more than doubled to reach 18,182 in 1910. As to be expected, a major commercial and residential building boom accompanied this tremendous population boom with brick plants working at capacity. Hotels, office buildings and fine residences were under construction as the streets were paved. By late August 1910, construction activity underway in Tulsa was valued at over one million dollars. Pipelines to the Gulf of Mexico opened as oil prices climbed. In 1912, a third major oil pool, the Gushing field, blew in. Although the incredible production from the Gushing field temporarily resulted in a drop in crude oil price by 1916, the United States' entrance into World War I rallied the market. Additionally, it was during this time that the first oil refining plant opened in Tulsa. By 1920, Tulsa's population had grown to 72,075, a tremendous increase of almost fifty-four thousand persons in merely ten years. Nearly doubling in the ensuing decade, Tulsa's population by 1930 was 141,258 and the city was the second largest in the state. Although oil drilling activity occurred all over eastern Oklahoma, the oil companies' headquarters were generally located at Tulsa and that is where the oil men in charge made their homes. As such, Tulsa became known as the "Oil Capital of the World."[3]
Like the rest of the nation, the oil business and Tulsa did not escape unscathed by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Further worsening the status of the oil industry in Oklahoma was the October 1930 discovery of oil in the East Texas field. Forty-five miles long and five to ten miles wide, the East Texas field quickly yielded a sufficient amount of oil by itself to satisfy national demand. The worsening economic conditions combined to such an extent that by 1933 the price of oil had reached bottom of the barrel prices and a good portion of Tulsa's residents were jobless. Although oil prices stabilized between 1934 and 1940, the decade of the 1930s proved to be difficult for Tulsans, as all Americans. In 1941, the city's population stood at only 142,157. This represented a growth of only 899 citizens since 1930.[4]
America's involvement in World War II proved to be a major redeeming event for Tulsa, as well as the nation as a whole. Although Tulsa and Oklahoma did not benefit from the increased military spending of early 1940, it quickly became apparent Tulsa enjoyed certain important characteristics that made it ideal for subsequent military spending. These features included its central, secure location in the middle of the country; ready sources of cheap fuel; a good network of roads and highways; and, a large pool of trained and unemployed workers. According to one source, the only drawback Tulsa had was the lack of available workers housing for the thousands of laborers necessary to make Tulsa "...a center of war production." Nonetheless, in early 1941, the War Department named Tulsa as a potential site for the new $15 million Douglas Aircraft Company plant. On 2 May 1941, a ceremonial ground breaking heralded the start of construction on the mile long building which by the summer of 1942 occupied one-and-one-half square feet of floor space. By the fall of 1942, the Douglas plant was in need of expansion and the plant payroll included nearly fifteen thousand workers earning an average of just over $185 a month.[5]
The Douglas Aircraft plant was not the only wartime plant impacting Tulsa in the early 1940s. Although the aircraft industry expended more than twenty million dollars during the period to expand their facilities in Tulsa, other factories in Tulsa spent more than seven million dollars in expanding their industrial plants during the war. In 1939, Tulsa manufacturers employed eleven thousand Tulsans in primarily oil-related manufacturing jobs. By 1945 forty-two thousand residents worked in local manufacturing plants. The majority of these in non-oil related capacities. In 1945, the United States Department of Labor determined that Tulsa was among the top three cities impacted by the wartime industrial expansion. In terms of the number of residents, between 1940 and 1945, Tulsa's population expanded by nearly a third to reach 185,000.[6]
Following the end of World War II, Tulsa continued to enjoy a prosperity unthought of in the 1930s. Responding to consumer demands for goods of all types, Tulsa continued to expand its industrial base. Further boosting the city's economy was the continued spending by the Federal government on military-related industries during the Cold War of the late 1940s through the early 1990s. This remarkable varied industrial development spurred Tulsa's growth through the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, Tulsa led the state in manufacturing.[7]
Architectural Significance
The Stonebraker Heights Historic District is architecturally significant as an excellent collection of period houses. The district predominately contains a majority of three compatible housing styles, Bungalow/Craftsman, Prairie School and Colonial Revival. Together, these styles represent eighty percent of the houses within the district. Although not as prevalent, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District also contains two noteworthy examples of the Italian Renaissance. Combined, the houses of the Stonebraker Heights Historic District are a unique collection of architecture that reflect the popular tastes of housing development in Tulsa during the 1910s through the early 1920s.
With thirty-five houses, the Bungalow/Craftsman style was the most prevalent in the district. Generally, Bungalow/Craftsman style houses were constructed of weatherboard with a moderate- to low-pitched gabled roof and full or partial porches with roofs supported by tapered wood columns on brick piers. Originating in California after the turn-of-the-century, the style spread across the country through pattern books and popular magazines. For the most part, the Bungalow/Craftsman style faded from popular use around 1930.
According to the book, America's Favorite Homes, the defining difference between a Bungalow and a Craftsman house is the number of stories. A Bungalow house is one- to one-and-one-half stories in height and a Craftsman house is two- to two-and-a-half stories. With twenty-one examples, the Craftsman version was slightly more popular in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District than the Bungalow style which had fourteen examples. Notably, there was just one less of the Craftsman homes than the next most popular style in the neighborhood and the number of Bungalows tied with the third most popular architectural style in the district.[8]
A landmark example of the Bungalow/Craftsman style in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District is the Joshua Cosden House at 1606 South Carson Avenue West, also called Mission Manor. Constructed in 1912, this stucco-clad, four bedroom, three bath house cost $12,000 to build, making it the highest priced residence in Tulsa at the time. Although the Cosden family moved down a block and erected an even finer residence within just a few years, 1606 South Carson Avenue remains a striking, commodious example of the Bungalow/Craftsman style in Tulsa.[9]
The Prairie School style was the second most popular style of home in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District. This style of home was popular nationally only from the turn-of-the-century to about 1920. Similar to the Craftsman version of the Bungalow/Craftsman house, this style of home was predominately two-stories with a single story, full-width porch. The roof of the house was usually hipped with broad eaves. The low-pitched, hipped porch roof frequently was supported by tapered wood columns on brick piers.
Fourteen houses in the Stonebraker Heights Historic District were classified as being in the Colonial Revival style. Commonly found with side-gabled and gambrel roofs, Colonial Revival houses almost always have a symmetrical fenestration pattern and an accentuated entry. Including all of its nine subtypes, this style "...was a dominant style for domestic building throughout the country during the first half..." of the twentieth century. As suggested by its name, the Colonial Revival style builds upon early American housing styles, including Post-medieval English, Dutch Colonial, Georgian and Adam.[10]
Providing further diversity to the Stonebraker Heights Historic District are the housing styles with a limited number of examples. This includes the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance Revival styles which both had four representations within the district. Combined, these styles make up nine percent of the neighborhood. Two oil-related mansions are included in this group of homes. The Robert McFarlin House (National Register 1979) at 1610 South Carson Avenue West and the Wrightsman Mansion at 1645 South Cheyenne Avenue West. Both of these Italian Renaissance style buildings are constructed of brick with clay tiled roofs. Although the houses share an overall style classification, they are dissimilar in architectural features, as well as decorative detail. Each house is an elaborate, commodious house befitting the oil-generated wealth of the original owners.
As reflected in its architectural styles, Stonebraker Heights Historic District developed rapidly in the teens and early twenties. The neighborhood was auspiciously situated about a mile directly south of downtown Tulsa. Also aiding in the addition's desirability was the ready views of the Arkansas River, then and now and picturesque draw. Reflective of the explosive growth of Tulsa during the period, numerous additions were platted and added to the original townsite in the late 1900s and early 1910s. According to the city directories, in 1909 Tulsa's Original Townsite had been expanded in all directions by forty-four additions. The following year, the number of additions jumped to fifty-five, excluding the Stonebraker Heights Addition. The 1911 Tulsa City Directory, the first one to include the Stonebraker Heights Addition, records a total of sixty-four additions to the townsite. However, not all of these additions developed as quickly as the Stonebraker Heights Addition. For example, the Orcutt Addition, platted in 1908 and now part of the Swan Lake Historic District and Yorktown Historic District, did not experience significant development until the 1920s.
Although construction got off to a slow start with just about four of the existing houses in the district erected by 1912, building activity swiftly took off after this. Again of note is the 1912 Cosden House at 1606 South Carson Avenue West which was built within two years of the addition's opening and likely fueled the explosion of development in the neighborhood through the presence of such a well-known Tulsan. During the five-year period of 1913 to 1918, seventy-five existing homes in the district were constructed. With eighty-three percent of the district in place, just three additional houses were erected between 1919 and 1922. These houses are included within the period of significance as they maintain the style, feel and association of the houses built during the main construction phase of the neighborhood. The houses constructed after this time reflect architectural styles that rose to prominence in Tulsa after the early 1920s.
The large number of two-story houses indicate that the Stonebraker Heights Addition was indeed one of "Tulsa's most exclusive residential developments." Including just the buildings along the main roads, nearly three-fourths of the homes in the district were two-stories with four more resources being half or a full-story above this. The two-story homes, along with the oversize, elegant houses constructed by the neighborhood's oil elite, were more commodious than the one-story Bungalows that proliferated in Tulsa's middle class neighborhoods such as Yorktown and Swan Lake (NR 1998). Additionally, several advertisements for homes in the Stonebraker Heights area in the late teens and early twenties make reference to available "modern servants quarters," as well as note the presence of garages. As the Tulsa Street Railway Company had cars running along South Main Street, just two blocks east of South Cheyenne Avenue, from downtown to Seventeenth Street by 1910 to provide ready transportation for businessmen locating in the Stonebraker Heights area to their places of employment in downtown Tulsa, the automobiles in the neighborhood were luxury items rather than necessities. Also noteworthy is that the garages in the neighborhood were not just single car edifices. A house advertised by the firm of Jenkins & Terwilleger in 1918 featured a two car garage and an advertisement run by the Blair Brothers in 1921 for a "...beautiful east front home..." noted the three car garage among the houses amenities.[11]
Overall, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District is a cohesive collection of leading architectural styles in Tulsa during the time frame of 1910 to 1922. The district maintains a good degree of integrity, both in terms of individual buildings and neighborhood design. Dominated by the Bungalow/Craftsman style, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District also contains a notable percentage of Prairie School and Colonial Revival style homes. Overall, these styles are compatible in terms of size, building materials, feeling and association and reflect popular architectural trends of the period. Providing additional variety to the district is that even the houses classified as the same style are not identical. Thus, the Stonebraker Heights Historic District is an unreplicatable expression of period architecture in Tulsa.
Endnotes
References
Debo, Angie. Tulsa: From Creek Town to Oil Capital. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1943.
Dunn, Nina Lane. Tulsa's Magic Roots. Tulsa, Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Book Publishing Company, 1979.
Goble, Danney, Ph.D. Tulsa! Biography of the American City. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Council Oak Books, 1998.
Inhofe, Marilyn, et al. Footsteps Through Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Liberty Press, 1984.
McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.
Schweitzer, Robert and Michael W.R. Davis. America's Favorite Homes: Mail-Order Catalogues As a Guide to Popular Early 20th-Centurv Houses. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1990.
The Tulsa (Oklahoma) Daily World. 3 March 1918; 2 April 1921 and 10 April 1921.
The WPA Guide to 1930s Oklahoma. Lawrence, Kansas: The University Press of Kansas, 1986.
†
† Adapted from: Cynthia Savage, architectural historian, for City of Tulsa, Stonebraker Heights Historic District, Tulsa, OK, nomination document, 2006, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods