Coordinates: 35.466419° N 97.509100° W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

The Bricktown Canal

Once a major warehouse district and the original site of the city, Bricktown is a growing entertainment district in downtown Oklahoma City. It is home to the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark and the navigable Bricktown Canal, and is one of the most popular destinations in the state. Image File history File links Bricktown, Oklahoma City File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Bricktown, Oklahoma City File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Now a hot night spot for twenty-somethings and urban professionals, Cleveland’s Warehouse District was once in serious disrepair after the businesses of its namesake had moved on. ... Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Motto: Nickname: Capital of the New Century Founded 1889 Incorporated County Oklahoma County Cleveland County Canadian County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Mick Cornett Area  - Total  - Water 1,608. ... AT&T Bricktown Ballpark opened in 1998 in downtown Oklahoma Citys Bricktown district. ...

Other attractions include the Oklahoma Land Run monument, numerous bars and dance clubs, casual and fine dining restaurants, retail shops including Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, a Harkins movie theatre, a Marble Slab Creamery, hotels, and live music venues. Oklahoma Land Rush The Land Run of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. ... Bass Pro Shops is a privately held sporting goods and outdoor goods store headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. ... Harkins Theatres is a privately owned and operated regional movie theater chain in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. ... Marble Slab Creamery was founded in October 1983 in Houston, Texas. ...

History

Railroads

Underlying all else is the fact that the Bricktown area is the historic crossroads of commerce in Oklahoma City. Like the heart in the human body, the railroad was the engine that provided the lifeblood of early economic development. From 1889 to 1904, four railroad companies laid ribbons of steel that connected the land-locked prairie community to the rest of the world. First was the Santa Fe that built north and south almost two years before the land run. Then came the Rock Island, the Frisco, and the Katy. Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: Rail stubs | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Arizona railroads | California railroads | Colorado railroads | Illinois railroads | Iowa railroads | Kansas railroads | Louisiana railroads | Missouri railroads | Nebraska railroads | New Mexico railroads | Oklahoma railroads | Texas railroads ... The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting mark RI) was a Class 1 railroad in the United States. ... The St. ... The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (known as the MKT, or Katy) began as the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch (unrelated to the Union Pacific Railroad) in 1865. ...

Each of these railroad companies focused their freight operations east of the Santa Fe tracks in what is now Bricktown. Outbound over those docks passed the wealth of the new territory. The most important cash crop by far was cotton, shipped to world markets over the steel rails to Galveston and points beyond. Other commodities putting dollars in farmers' pockets included cattle, horses, mules, as well as wheat, fruit, corn, and produce. After 1928 and the discovery of the Oklahoma City Field, oil was added to the list of exports. For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Galveston redirects here. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Inbound over the rails of commerce came manufactured goods such as machinery, hardware, farm implements, and automobiles, especially after 1915 when Henry Ford opened his assembly plant in Oklahoma City. With money in their pockets, consumers across the state demanded new products ranging from radios to Sears' ready-to-assemble homes. Each new shipment crossed the loading docks in Bricktown. On top of all this was the flow of passenger traffic, carrying residents to and from home and travelling salesmen to and from nearby hotels such as the Huckins and Skirvin. Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Henry Ford (1919) Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. ...

Original Architecture

To handle this ebb and flow of commerce, three generations of unique brick buildings were constructed east of the Santa Fe tracks in Bricktown. The first structures appeared between 1898 and 1903, such as the Sherman Ironworks Foundry, that were typically one or two stories tall with arched windows and embellished door ways. The next generation, constructed between 1903 and 1911, were usually multi-storied with less ornamentation and fewer arches. The third wave of construction, from 1911 to 1930, was marked by even taller buildings with rows of rectangular windows and large graphics signs. The common thread holding all together was the use of red brick. Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

African-American Impact

While the engine of economic growth gained momentum, another chapter of Oklahoma City history was unfolding in the same part of town. That was the story of the African-American community.

From 1889 to the 1930s Bricktown was a battleground for social justice and the birthplace of cultural diversity in Oklahoma City. It began when some of the first 200 African-Americans attracted by the land run settled in Sandtown, located along the north bank of the river east of the Santa Fe tracks. From there, the black community grew northward as jobs were created and new waves of immigrants arrived looking for a piece of the promised land. By 1910 there were more than 7,000 black people in Oklahoma City, most living on the near east side. Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known as the World Depression. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Despite racism and Jim Crow laws passed by the first State Legislature to separate the races in public places, the black community prospered alongside their white neighbors during the prolonged era of economic expansion. With growing families and newfound buying power, African-Americans built houses on vacant lots east along the north bank of the river or purchased older housing stock along the tracks on the north side of Bricktown. By 1915 the all-black residential community ringed the commercial district of brick buildings and stretched from the river on the south to First Street on the north and as far east as the 1000 block on Third Street. This box:      The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Faced with this expansion of black families into formerly white neighborhoods, the Oklahoma City Council passed a segregation ordinance that would in effect prevent blacks from buying or moving into houses north of Second Street. Even after the United States Supreme Court declared that ordinance unconstitutional in 1916, de facto segregation kept the wall intact, making Second Street a symbolic battleline in the fight against racial injustice. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

In 1915 a loud voice was raised in this battle when Roscoe Dunjee founded the first black newspaper in Oklahoma City, the Black Dispatch. From his offices in Bricktown at 228 E. First, Dunjee and his allies organized the first local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, challenged legal barriers in the courts, and attacked the "Bloody Fangs of Jim Crow" in the halls of power. The efforts bore fruit, first with cracks in the wall, then with a growing volume of victories however small. Year after year, under constant attack, the walls of segregation would crumble, a fight started in the neighborhoods of Bricktown. Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, generally pronounced as EN Double AY SEE PEE) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ...

Even after the walls of housing segregation began falling, the Bricktown area remained a crossroads for the free expression of diversity in Oklahoma. Along the northern border grew Deep Deuce, the commercial district of the black community where businessmen and women offered a wide variety of goods and services ranging from picture shows to some of the region's most prominent blues and jazz clubs. Also prospering in this crossroads of diversity was a new generation of churches, such as Calvary Baptist, which rose to praise God and provide a strong framework for the moral life of Oklahoma City. Deep Duece consists mostly of low rise apartment buildings and various formerly vacant mixed use buildings and shops. ... “Blues music” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ...

Douglass High School

At the heart of these cultural crossroads was the Frederick Douglass High School. Founded in 1891, the all-black school moved to a two-story frame building in the 400 block of East California in 1899, followed by a move into the old Webster School in 1903. From this new home at the northwest corner of California and Walnut (where the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark is located today), Douglass had become one of the leading educational institutions in the region. Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... AT&T Bricktown Ballpark opened in 1998 in downtown Oklahoma Citys Bricktown district. ...

Among the outstanding list of leaders at the institution were Dr. Inman Page, who first gained distinction as president of Langston University, J. A. Brazelton, founder of the Oklahoma Association of Negro Teachers, and Dr. Frederick Moon, a nationally prominent educator and civil rights advocate from the 1930s to the 1960s. Sharing the stage of leadership was Mrs. Zelia Breaux, who nurtured the musical careers of young people including Charlie Christian, called the "world's greatest jazz guitarist," and Mr. Five by Five, Jimmy Rushing, called the "world's greatest blues singer." Langston University is in Langston, Oklahoma. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known as the World Depression. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Charlie Christian (29 July 1916 – 2 March 1942) was an American jazz guitarist. ... James Andrew (Jimmy) Rushing (August 26, 1901/02/03 - June 8, 1972) was an American blues singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ...

Douglass remained in the Bricktown location until 1934 when it moved farther east and north to its current location on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in the Eastside. Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 125th Street between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue Christmas shopping on 125th Street 125th Street is a two-way east-west street in Manhattan, considered the Main street of Harlem; It is also called Martin Luther King, Jr. ... The Eastside is home to the states largest African American community. ...

Decline

The move of Douglass High School from the neighborhood served as a symbolic transition for the Bricktown area that would span five decades of decline. First, the Great Depression brought a sudden halt to new construction and delayed needed repairs to older buildings. Then came World War II and the investment of new resources in the war effort, followed by post-war suburban sprawl and the development of new industrial parks away from the old commercial centers and closer to cheap land and the growing trucking industry. By 1980 the crossroads of commerce and cultural diversity had become a graveyard of abandoned and under utilized buildings.

Revitalization

Fortunately, history proves that adversity often creates new opportunities, and Bricktown was ripe for a new beginning. The raw materials were there - cheap buildings, vacant lots for parking, tax credits for restoration projects, and a consumer society that was looking for something new, something more distinctive than bland suburban shopping malls and faceless movie theaters. The only thing missing was vision, leadership, and a plan to make Bricktown the crossroads of renewal.

Efforts at urban revitalization in the 1960s and 1970s largely ignored the area while commercial developers tended to stick with more cautious projects. One man who bucked that trend was Neal Horton, a developer who saw new opportunities for the historic area. He created a plan, attracted partners, and coined the name "Bricktown" to give the old commercial district an identity. Unfortunately, the oil and banking crash of 1982 kept Horton from realizing his dreams. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

Like good soldiers on the battlefield, others picked up the flag and charged on. Investors such as Jim Brewer saw bargains and were willing to invest their time and energy. Companies such as Spaghetti Warehouse moved in and pointed the way to others. And then Mayor Ron Norick and an army of leaders hatched the MAPS program that would add new attractions to Bricktown and tie it all together with a festive canal and riverwalk. Like the mythical Phoenix, the old commercial and cultural crossroads would cast off its troubled past and emerge once again as a vital part of Oklahoma City's life. Spaghetti Warehouse is an Italian restaurant geared towards families in several US states. ... The phoenix from the Aberdeen Bestiary. ...

Oklahoma country music singer and songwriter Jeremy Castle released a in 2002 song entitled "For A While", which mentions and promotes Bricktown. Jeremy Castle 2002 Jeremy Glen Castle (August 2, 1974) is an American country music singer and songwriter from Oklahoma. ...

External links

• Bricktown Association's Offical Website
• BricktownOKC.com