Hillerman Map Project
Photographs of Oklahoma City
21412.B105.824, Z.P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS (map #1I)
Telephone Building, Pioneer Building (OLI)
Address: 401–411 North Broadway Avenue
View: Northwest from 3rd Street and Broadway Avenue
Date: ca. 1928
Architectural Style: Telephone Building (right), Art Deco; Pioneer Building (left), Chicago (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)
Architect: Telephone Building, Layton, Hicks and Forsyth; Pioneer Building, William Wells (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)
Built: Telephone Building, 1927; Pioneer Building, 1907 (Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory)
"The expansion of Oklahoma City during the 1920s was reflected in the growth of the telephone company. As more people arrived in the booming city, more telephones were installed, new equipment was purchased, and new employees were hired. To house the expanded operations, Southwestern Bell constructed the sixteen story Telephone Building just north of the Pioneer Building. Designed by Solomon Layton, the buff-brick structure included set-backs, a tower, and ornate terra cotta." (Blackburn, Henderson and Thurman 72)
"The telephone came to Oklahoma City in 1893 with the arrival of the Missouri-Kansas Telephone Company. For about ten years this firm held a monopoly, but then came competition: Pioneer Telephone Company, a new and energetic organization which in a few short years had swallowed up a number of the small town exchanges, and now was challenging Missouri-Kansas for the city's telephone business. For a time it was necessary for citizens to subscribe to the services of both companies if they wanted to insure communication links with all other residents and businesses in town, but in 1905 this inconvenience was eliminated when Pioneer bought out Missouri-Kansas. Three years later the surviving company moved into this new headquarters building at Northwest Third and Broadway." (Edwards and Ottaway, Vanished Splendor 85)
Click points or areas on the map to view historic photographs of downtown Oklahoma City.
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- Ford Assembling Plant
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- Municipal Auditorium
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- Bird’s Eye View of Civic Center and Courthouse
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- Old County Courthouse
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- Montgomery Ward Building
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- Hotel Black
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- Motor Hotel
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- Plaza Court
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- Gene Jones Motor Co.
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- Magnolia Petroleum Company
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- Rockwell Apartments
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- Masonic Temple (Home State Life Building)
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- Kirkpatrick Hotel
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- Elks Lodge (Key Building, ONG Building)
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- Federal Building
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- US Post Office
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- Federal Reserve Bank
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- Cotton-Exchange Building
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- Oklahoma County Courthouse
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- YWCA
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- Hightower Building
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- Mercantile Building (Levy Building)
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- Majestic Building
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- First National Building
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- Wright Building
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- Skirvin Tower
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- Rock Island Railroad Depot
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- Skirvin Hotel
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- Insurance Building
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- Public Warehouse Company
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- Patterson and Hoffman Wholesale Cigars and Pipes
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- Milner Hotel
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- Hotel Kingkade
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- Herskowitz Building
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- Santa Fe Railroad Station
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- Wells Roberts Hotel
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- Sooner Theatre
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- Colcord Building
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- Baltimore Building
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- Midwest Theatre
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- Kress
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- Lerner
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- Katz Drug
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- The American National Building
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- Empire Building
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- Criterion Theatre
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- Biltmore Hotel
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- Oklahoma Club Building
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- Farmer's National Bank Building
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- Commerce Exchange Building
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- Huckins Hotel, Huckins Garage
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- Campbell Building
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- Hales Building
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- Fidelity Bank
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- Britling Cafeteria
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- Manly Office Supply Company
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- Perrine Building, Cravens Building
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- Baum Building
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- Security National Building
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- Ramsey Tower, City National Building
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- Petroleum Building
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- Franklin Building
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- Braniff Building
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- Kerr-McGee Building
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- Capitol Federal Savings and Loan
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- Telephone, Pioneer, Southwestern Bell
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Parade on Broadway
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- Street View
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- Street View
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- Aerial View
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- Bird’s Eye View
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- Bird’s Eye View
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- Bird’s Eye View
The Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection
The Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection includes thousands of images, many of which depict businesses in Oklahoma City. Many photographs in the collection are from the Meyers Photo Shop, which employed Barney Hillerman and other photographers. This map highlights significant buildings in the downtown Oklahoma City area, as well as street and aerial views. The map features images dating from the late 1920s to the 1960s.
This project was made possible by a grant from the Pauline Dwyer Macklanburg and Robert A. Macklanburg Jr. Foundation.
You can view more images from the Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection on The Gateway to Oklahoma History.
Visit The Gateway to Oklahoma History.
