National Register Record for BLUE DOME HISTORIC DISTRICT

Historic Name: BLUE DOME HISTORIC DISTRICT
Current Name: SAME
Address: ROUGHLY BETWEEN SOUTH KENOSHA AND SOUTH DETROIT, FRISCO RR TRACKS AND EAST 8TH
City: TULSA            County: TULSA
Section: None           Township: None           Range: None          
Description of significance: THE BLUE DOME HISTORIC DISTRICT IS ELIGIBLE FOR LISTING UNDER CRITERION A IN THE AREAS OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE. DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT RESPONDED TO THE PHYSICAL PROXIMITY TO AND LOCAL DEPENDENCE ON TWO RAILROADS THAT BEGAN SERVING TULSA IN 1903 AND 1905. ITS STRATEGIC LOCATION ADJACENT TO THESE RAILROAD CORRIDORS WAS CRITICAL TO TULSA’S GROWTH. THE COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT THRIVED FOR NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS. BROAD, OPEN AREAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RAILROAD CORRIDORS AND FREIGHT YARDS FORM THE CORE OF THE DISTRICT. LARGE UTILITARIAN WAREHOUSES, LUMBER YARDS, WHOLESALE SUPPLY HOUSES, MANUFACTURING BUILDINGS, AUTOMOBILE SERVICES, COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES, AND STORAGE AND TRUCKING COMPANIES SURROUNDED THE TRACKS. THEY REPRESENT THE TRADE OF DISTRIBUTING RAW AND MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS THAT BEGAN FOLLOWING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RAILROAD LINES AND GREW STEADILY THROUGH TULSA’S OIL BOOM. THE DESIGNATION IN 1926 OF EAST SECOND STREET AS THE OFFICIAL ROUTE OF US 66 (ROUTE 66) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE NUMBER OF AUTOMOBILES THAT PASSED THROUGH THE DISTRICT, AND AUTO-RELATED SERVICES SOON SPREAD INTO THE UTILITARIAN AREA. WHOLESALE ACTIVITY IN THE BLUE DOME HISTORIC DISTRICT FLOURISHED THROUGH WORLD WAR II, AFTER WHICH THE TRANSITION FROM RAILROAD TO TRUCKING STARTED AN ECONOMIC DECLINE IN THE AREA. THE VARIETY OF BUILDINGS REFLECTS THE FUNCTIONAL, MIXED-USE NATURE OF THE BUSINESSES THEY HOUSED. THEIR SIMPLE UTILITARIAN FORMS AND STYLING CONTRAST WITH THE CONTEMPORARY HIGH-STYLE SKYSCRAPERS THAT FORM TULSA’S COMMERCIAL CENTER JUST TO THE WEST. THE OPEN SPACE MEMORIALIZES THE RAILROAD CORRIDORS AND FREIGHT YARDS THAT FORMED THE FUNCTIONAL HEART OF THE DISTRICT.

Type: DISTRICT
Historic Function: COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, TRANSPORTATION, DOMESTIC, GOVERNMENT
Current Function: COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, DOMESTIC
Area of Significance 1: TRANSPORTATION
Area of Significance 2: COMMERCE
Architectural Style: COMMERCIAL, MODERNE, ART DECO, INTERNATIONAL, MISSION/SPANISH COLONIAL
Architect: DAVID GRAHAM
Year Built: 1903-1965            Original Site: YES
Condition: GOOD
Restricted: N
Documentation Source: None
Date Prepared: 2011