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The Birth of a New
City
First Known as Oklahoma
Station
Then became Oklahoma
City
When the Indian
Appropriation
Bill was
passed on March 2, 1889
it was passed with a
"rider" opening to
settlement about 2
million acres known
as
the Oklahoma
Country. It was
signed by President
Grover Cleveland on the
22nd of that same
month.
President Benjamin
Harrison
issued his proclamation that
the Oklahoma
Country
would be opened to settlement on
April 22nd at high noon. He stressed
that
no parties
should
try and enter the
area prior to time and date set.
As
the
noon time
approached
on that Monday a
serious
problem
arose.
Their was
no official timepiece of official
guard. Watches were consulted and found
to vary as
much as 30
minutes. At 12 noon, Oklahoma Station
(City) was
born, and by
6pm of that same day
had
a
population of
around ten thousand
people.
As
with any new
beginning there are many
firsts, and so was
the
case of Oklahoma
City. The first
marriage recorded
in
Oklahoma City was
conducted by Rev. James
Murray when
W. W.
Wilkerson and
Miss
Mary
Moore tied the knot
on
THursday, May
16. The first sermon was
given on
Sunday, April
28 by the
Rev. C.C.
Hembree . The first birth
recorded was on Sunday,
May 2 when Mrs. J.
Cunningham
brought a
daughter into
the
world. She was
promptly
named Oklahoma
Bell. The first
fire
occured on Deep
Fork
River in the
shanty
of a
man named
Newton on September
3.
The first horse race was Saturday,
May 18k,
when
Texas Belle beat
Shadow Tail. The
first act of
burglary
occurred on the night of
June 5
when Dr. Scott
was held
up. The
first
baptism was that of George
McKay by
Rev. T. J. Head in the North Canadian
River on
July
7.
The first
hanging,
even though it
was
accidental,
occurred
in
the summer of 1889
when Rip Rowser
Bill was
left
alone with
a noose
around his neck.
The early morning dew
tightened the rop
and
lifted him six inches
off the
ground.
James
McCarthy
sold the first dollar's worth
of dry goods on commission and was the first
travelling
salesman in
the city as well. The first brothel was
opened by
Big Annie Wynn
in a tent across from
the
railroad depot,
where the first
resident
to step foot
off the Santa Fe
train
on April
22, 1889 was W. H.
Ebey. The first
business to open was
owned by farmer C. A.
McNabb.
The
first election
was
conducted on May 24, 1889
where
they cast
their
ballot
at
107 West Main
Street.
J.A.
Hebb;e's brickyard
supplied all of the
brick
for
businesses
during the
first years
of the new cities
growth.
W.O.
Church made the run
and
opened a small cafe in
a
tent.
Frank Harrah
arrived a few hours later,
discovering the cafe from the smell of the
coffee.
He asked
him if he needed any help, as an answer he was
told to
put an
apron
on. Mrs. M.A. McGee
operated the
Hotel
Weaver which was
located
on Main street
between Broadway
and
Robinson
Avenues. The hotel
closed by
1903.
One of the
most
prominent territorial photographers aw E.
W.
Oliver and he along
with his wife, Mary
operated their
small
studio at 120
1/2 West
Main
Street. The
city's
first churches were the First
Presbyterian, St. Paul's
Episcopal Cathedral, St. Joseph's Catholic
Cathedral,
First
Christian and Metodist
Episcopal Church,
North.
Some
of the families
that
made the run in
1889 was the Hanson
family:
Alice Hanson
Witcher, Ray
Andrew Hanson,
Mary Katherine Hanson
(mother), Edward Hanson,
Henry
Foster
Hanson,
Emily
Josephine
Hanson,
August Severin
Hanson and Mr. Andrew
Hanson
(father).
Judge Seymour Steward and his wife
moved to
Oklahoma City
in 1893,
the same
year they were
married
in Joliet,
Illinois. Their home
was located
at 212 West
Chickasaw
(later became
5th) in South Oklahoma
City. It
wasn't
until 1891 that Oklahoma
City had an
official
cemetery,
which would be known as
Fairlawn.
The Star Meat Market was
operated
by
Isaac and
Johanna
Loewenstein who made the run in 1889
from New
York
City. Their store was
located at 111-113
West
Grand
Avenue. Mr.
William Fremont Harn was
a special agent
for the
Department of the
Interior, he
opened a third land
office in Oklahoma City
in 1891. The
other
two were in
Guthrie and
Kingfisher. Anton
Classen ended up in
Edmond during the
1889
land run then
moved to
Oklahoma
City
in
1897. He was elected
president
of
the
Commercial Club
(chamber
of
commerce) in 1899. He also had other
interests in real estate
development,
transportation, and
a
savings and loan
association. In 1903 J.
B.
Wheeler donated 35
acres for a city
park.
He
stipulated that
at
least
$2,000 be
appropriated each year
for
maintenance and
improvements.
It
had a massive stone
entrance and
was the
city's first
zoological
park.
New Century Brought New Prosperity and
Growth
The US
Census in 1900
showed
that Oklahoma
City now
had a population of
14,369. This
phenomenal economic growth
continued
with the
construction of
new
commercial
buildings. The business
district was
fronted by
7,900 feet of brick or
stone
buildings (now
called Brick
Town). On January 30,
1902 the city council granted a franchise to
the
Metropolitan
Street Railway Company
and the first
electric-powered cars
began
service on February 2, 1902 on
6.5 miles of track. The city then began
to
move
northward and
the
building frenzy continued. The housing
additions of
Colcord
Heights, Classen's
Highland Park
Addition, and
Winnan's
Addition
offered
new housing. The social
life blossomed . Bridge and
bowling
clubs
were
formed by
Mrs. James H.
Wheeler. Mrs. Henry Overholster hosted a
lavish reception and party at her
residence. The
Lotus Club was formed in
1905, as did the 89er
Association, which held
its first meeting in
Wheeler
Park. This
was also the
site of the first baseball
game. The
Empire
Theater opened in 1903, however it
closed its doors in 1907. The empire of
Big Anne
Wynn also
closed in 1907. She had ruled the
underworld of the
city
for 18 years as the
"Madam" when a jury
acquitted her
or arson
and
murder.
She
then packed her bags and
moved to Los Angeles,
California
where she
later
died. Mrs. Marion
Tutle Rock wrote a
book
called the
"Illustrated
History of
Oklahoma: The Land of
the Fair
God" in
1890. She
also
held the position
of
librarian of the new
Carnegie Library from
1901 to
1907. The
first amusement
park was
the Delmar
Gardens owned by John
and
Peter Sinopoulo and
Joseph Marre
on 150 acres purchased from
Charles
Colcord. The
Oklahoma Time-Journal
reported in 1903 that
"Three homes are
being
constucted North
of
this city, at a cost of
$35,000
to
$55,000/"
These
homes became the
homes
of Mayor
Lee Van
Winkle,
Henry
Overholster,
and
Charles Francis
Colcord. The
first lady of
Oklahoma
City was the
18year old
Miss Anna
Ione Murphy who married
the 43 year
old
capitalist, Henry
Overholster. Their
August
wedding was a
private affair. His
grace
Bishop
Theophile
Meerschaert
laid the cornerstone of Oklahoma
City's first
Catholic
academy on December 18,
1903.
It was
completed
and opened its
doors for the first term
in 1906,
with an enrollment of 35
students. Mount
St.
Mary's
is
still in
use this
day. The first
location of the weather
bureau was on the
fifth
floor of the
Culbertson
Building. In 1904
a site
on the southwest corner of
Classen Boulevard and Nineteenth Street was
purchased
from
Epworth
University for
$10. The Irving Shool was located on the
southeast corner of East Fourth and
Walnut
streets.
It
was
one of the
first
schools
constructed prior to
statehood. When the
capital was moved
from
Guthrie
in 1910,
Irving
School
was used as the temporary state
house.
The
building burned in
1937. The
Oklahoma City
Police in
1905 were
Frank Benesh,
Fred
W. Right, George T.
Trusty, Ike Shelvy,
Charles Gordon,
Detective Fred Hagen,
Jailer-J. H. Bols,
Captain of Detectives was
R. W.
Cochran,
Chief Wagner, Sergeante
Belle, James Gaston,
George Sampson, George
Wagner, John T. McCarty,
Joseph E.
Palmer, WIll
Light, Lester Brown,
William
Inman, Charles
W.
Armstrong and John H.
Dean. The Baptist
White temple was
planning on building a new
church when a fire
broke
out
during a prayer
meeting
on February 14, 1905 and
destroyed
the wooden
structure. They
continued
with their
plans and
soon moved
into their
new church
building. In 1889
two Sisters of St.
Francis from Marysville,
Missouri came
to
Oklahoma Station to
solicit funds for
a
hostpial in
Missouri. When they
approached Father
D.I.
Lanslots
of St.
Josephs he told
them of
the great need
for such a hospital
here.
Temporary
quarters were begun the
same year
and today the
hospital
is still in
use.
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