| Here's
a guided tour of the artifacts in the Vintage Garden - do
you or your friends remember these buildings?
 Skelly
Oil Company’s original building was at Fourth Street
and Boulder in the 1920s – these tiles were in the entry to
the building. The next building was between
Main and Boulder on Fifteenth Street, completed in 1960. The Skelly Mansion is at 21st St. and Madison. W.G.
Skelly was known as “Mr. Tulsa.” Skelly was the first
company to print the specification on a tag attached to a
lubricant can—Tagolene brand. Skelly Stadium, Skelly Drive,
and Skelly Elementary School are named for W.G. Skelly and
the University of Tulsa’s radio station carries his
initials: KWGS.
The Tulsa Auto Hotel was
built in the late 1920’s at 515 S. Cincinnati. It was razed
in 2005 for surface parking.
 The
dedication plaque from the 21st Street Bridge
on the East side of Arkansas River was named the 23rd
Street Bridge on the West side of the river. Despite the
depression, it was begun in 1931. Tulsa needed a second
bridge across the Arkansas because of southward growth. It
had the 11th Street Bridge, which replaced the
original pedestrian-wagon toll bridge and was on Route 66.
Notice the title of Chairman of Water and "Sewerage."
 Hillcrest
Hospital began as Morningside Hospital in 1918 under
the guidance of Dolly McNulty, RN. It was opened in
response to an influenza epidemic after WWI. Hillcrest had a
nurses school and residence (according to 1947
article) and was affiliated with the University of Tulsa.
Hillcrest was the site of the first
heart surgery ever done in Oklahoma and the first kidney
transplant in Tulsa. It serves as a regional burn center
for eastern Oklahoma, has a specialized rehab program called
the Kaiser Rehabilitation Center (Zink Village), and a
Center for 55+ and Center for Women’s Health.
 The
Hunt Building was built in the art deco style in
the 1920s. It was the home of Brown Dunkin
Department Store at the southeast corner of
Fourth and Main Streets. Brown Dunkin, which evolved into
Dillard's, was one of the largest
department stores in the Southwest, occupying six of the
floors.
At the left side of this 1940s photo of
Fourth and Main you can see the Hunt building and the lower
portion of the Brown Dunkin sign.
 Tulsa
Banking Company was established in 1895, next to the
Lynch Store. It was a small two story building on the 100
block of Main Street. It was started by Jay Forsythe,
brother-in-law B.F. Colley, and son-in-law C.W. Brown, with
$10,000 capital. The five story building was built at 2nd
and Main in 1905 and changed the name to First National
Bank. Leter, a 10 story building was built at 4th and Main.
Then a 20 story building was built in 1950 at 5th
and Boston. The artifacts were saved from the wrecking ball
on April 18, 1970 and later placed in the bank tower. Today
it is known as Chase Bank and is a 41 story building.
 The
Five Moons are 5 Native American Ballerinas who
gained worldwide reputations in their artistry. Maria and
Marjorie Tallchief were Osage Indians, Rosella Hightower is
a Choctaw, Yvonne Chouteau is Cherokee and Moscelyne Larkin
is Shawnee.
In 1957 a new Ballet called the Four Moons was written to highlight Maria Tallchief,
Hightower, Chouteau, and Larkin. In 1967 Marjorie replaced
sister Maria in the role. Hence, The Five Moons.
Yvonne Chouteau of Vinita
joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at age 14 and she and
her husband later became artists in residence at the
University of Oklahoma and developed the school’s dance
department. They organized and directed the OKC Civic
Ballet for years.
Rosella Hightower of
Ardmore performed with the Ballet Russe and became artistic
director of the Center de Danse International.
Moscelyne Larkin of
Miami, OK joined the Ballet Russe and she with husband Roman
Jasinski formed the Tulsa Civic Ballet and School, now Tulsa
Ballet, the state’s oldest ballet company.
Maria Tallchief of
Fairfax joined the Ballet Russe and married George
Balanchine. They created NYC Ballet. She was artistic
director of the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet, then founded
Chicago City Ballet.
Marjorie Tallchief of
Fairfax was the first American to become a prima ballerina
with the Paris Opera Ballet and created new ballet roles in
works by her husband George Skibine with the Grand Ballet de
Cuevas.
 The
Perryman Steps were carved in 1893 for George
Perryman, by a tramp stonecutter. His daughters mounted
horses from those steps to ride side saddle. He had the
initials of his son Mose S. Perryman (MSP 1893) carved into
the steps. They first stood at 510 S. Main where Bishop’s
Restaurant was located and left there when George Perryman
sold the land. Lon Stansberry purchased the lot and moved
it to three homes, finally to a home at 2405 E. 26th
Place before it became the property of Tulsa Historical
Society.
 T.
J. Archer Co. in 1905 was a furniture, coffin, and wagon
store owned by Jeff Archer near the Frisco Railroad , facing
west on Main Street. He was an enterprising young man
whose first products were half a barrel of cider and a box of
gingersnaps to sell to railroad workers. His first store in
1882 had wooden sides with a tent top. He later built a
larger store. Archer
was part Cherokee Indian and married Annie, daughter of
George Mowbray. Jeff died 30 days after someone shot
a gun in his store and hit a keg of blasting powder, causing
an explosion. George Mowbray helped Annie run brick
store she built.
 J.M.
and H.C. Hall established the first non-Indian store in Tulsa
as a tent to provide supplies to the railroad in 1882. The
Halls built the first store and secured a $10,000 government
permit to do business in the Creek Nation. J.M. Hall raised
the building to a two story wooden store in 1891. The first
church services were held on the steps of the store. The
Tulsa Banking Co. conducted business here after the 1897
fire. The first telephone company also had offices in the
store. J.M. Hall built a two story brick store in 1902. The
stores were on the south side of the Frisco right of way,
facing east. Hall was an active civic leader and lived to be
in his 90’s.
 The
Cupola is from the East Second Library, which was at
2537 E. 2nd Street. R.T. Daniel had donated the
land to the city. When the library walls began to buckle,
they decided to demolish the library in 1996, and built the
new Kendall-Whittier Library. The cupola was first placed on
the new library’s grounds, and then donated to the Tulsa
Historical Society.
 The Fountain has an “F”
inscription from the Fichtenberg family. They were the last
private owners before the Tulsa Tribune Foundation helped
purchase the property for theTulsa Historical Society. The
paved area was formerly a tennis court and there was a
swimming pool on the grounds.
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