Westhope is one of three buildings in Oklahoma that were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect.
Wisconsin newspaperman Richard Lloyd Jones asked his first cousin Frank Lloyd Wright to build him a residence when Wright was struggling to get commissions.
Commissioned before the Great Crash and finished during the Great Depression, Westhope was built at a difficult time in Wright’s career amid an even more tumultuous time for American society.
Westhope is made with alternating piers of square glass windows and cement “textile” blocks. A limited number of concrete block homes were done in between Wright’s better-known Prairie and Usonian houses.
This is one of the largest residences Wright ever built and its interior is among the most elusive for photographers.
Oral Roberts University was started by televangelist Oral Roberts in the 1960s. Currently about 4,000 students are enrolled here. At one entrance to the university is the Praying Hands sculpture. One of the more famous landmarks in Tulsa.Another famous landmark at ORU, the Prayer Tower.Looking up at the Prayer Tower,Sculpture of Jesus instructing students.Eternal flame and water fountain.The architecture is like a step back in time to the 1970s. Kind of “70s Futuristic”. There are quite a few new construction projects going on here, so the architecture will be modernized.Concrete and gold hued metal accents.Residence hallsAuditorium
We didn’t realize it when we planned this trip, but the PGA tournament was held in Tulsa on the weekend we were here. Of course, not knowing so not planning, we did not go in to watch.But I got a shot outside the gate.And the Goodyear blimp was there.
The Bricktown area of Oklahoma City is a rehabilitated area near downtown. It has many upscale shops and restaurants, and a minor league baseball stadium.Statue of New York Yankees baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, an Oklahoma native.Statue of Cincinnati baseball Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, another Oklahoma native. He is still considered by many (including me) to be the greatest catcher in baseball history.Statue of baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, another Oklahoma native. He is the all-time leader in wins by a lefthander in baseball history, pitching mainly for the Braves.Statue of Jim Thorpe, considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, is also from Oklahoma.There are horse-drawn carriages rolling throughout Bricktown, with neon lights!Mickey Mantles restaurant.
Amost all of Oklahoma was once Indian Territory. Through treaties in 1866, tribes ceded about half the land to the US government for the relocation of more tribes, except about 2,000,000 acres designated “Unassigned Lands”. These lands were opened for non-Indian settlement on April 22, 1889.
Referred to as “Boomers,” by the appointed day more than 50,000 hopefuls were living in tent cities on all four sides of the territory.
The events that day at Fort Reno on the western border were typical. At 11:50 AM, soldiers called for everyone to form a line. When the hands of the clock reached noon, the cannon of the fort boomed, and the soldiers signaled the settlers to start. With the crack of hundreds of whips, thousands of Boomers streamed into the territory in wagons, on horseback, and on foot.
All told, from 50,000 to 60,000 settlers entered the territory that day. By nightfall, they had staked thousands of claims either on town lots or quarter section farm plots. Towns like Norman, Oklahoma City, Kingfisher, and Guthrie sprang into being almost overnight.
Cases involving “Sooners”–people who had entered the territory before the legal date and time–overloaded courts for years to come.This sculpture depicting the land rush is a very impressive sight.
