Oklahoma County Courthouse

Oklahoma County Courthouse
Location 321 Park Ave., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Coordinates 35°28′8″N 97°31′14″W / 35.46889°N 97.52056°W / 35.46889; -97.52056Coordinates: 35°28′8″N 97°31′14″W / 35.46889°N 97.52056°W / 35.46889; -97.52056
Area 1.3 acres (0.53 ha)
Built by Manhattan Construction Co.
Architect Layton & Forsyth
Architectural style Art Deco
MPS County Courthouses of Oklahoma TR
NRHP Reference # 92000126[1]
Added to NRHP March 5, 1992

Oklahoma County Courthouse in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma was designed by prominent Oklahoma architect Solomon Layton and partners George Forsyth and Jewel Hicks[2] of the firm Layton & Forsyth, and was built in 1937. It replaced the original courthouse that was built with $100,000 in bonds issued and located at the intersection of California and Robinson at 520 West Main Street in the 1900s.

The building is located at 321 Park Avenue[3] It cost $1.5 million paid for with a bond issue and money from the Public Works Administration (PWA), "a federal program to create jobs in The Great Depression.[4]

The 11-floor concrete courthouse building is considered art deco / art moderne and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[5] Quotes are inscribed in the "sandy-brown Indiana limestone" and a carved mural depicts "a scene of Oklahoma friendship" between a Native American figure and a Mountain Man.[4]

The building is said to be "loosely abstracted from stepped-back Mayan temples" and includes a two-story lobby with terrazzo floor with a compass design as well as abstracted wagon wheel chandeliers and third story overlooks.[4] In 1967 a modern architecture building was constructed next to the courthouse and connected by a walkway.

The courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 1992.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Carla Breeze, American Art Deco: Architecture and Regionalism (W. W. Norton & Company, 2003), ISBN 978-0-393-01970-4, pp. 19, 113 (excerpts available at Google Books).
  3. ↑ "A Brief History of Oklahoma County Government." OklahomaCounty.org. Accessed 2009 September 17.
  4. 1 2 3 John Parker The Oklahoma County Courthouse Oklahoma County website (Originally published in the June 2004 issue of Oklahoma City Downtown Monthly
  5. ↑ Oklahoma County Courthouse Emporis
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