National Register Record for WHITTIER SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT

Historic Name: WHITTIER SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT
Current Name: SAME
Address: ROUGHLY BETWEEN LEWIS AVENUE, ZUNIS AVENUE, EAST FIRST STREET
City: TULSA            County: TULSA
Section: None           Township: None           Range: None          
Description of significance: WHITTIER SQUARE IS LOCALLY SIGNIFICANT AND ELIGIBLE FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTER UNDER CRITERION A FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, COMMERCE AND TRADE, AND FOR TRANSPORTATION AS ASSOCIATED WITH ROUTE 66. WHITTIER SQUARE WAS TULSA’S FIRST SUBURBAN SHIPPING CENTER, A COMMERCIAL NEXUS FOR THE ENTIRE WHITTIER NEIGHBORHOOD IN AN EARLY “EDGE CITY”. WHITTIER SQUARE REPRESENTS THE RESHAPING OF TULSA STIMULATED BY OIL, EARLY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND THE SPREAD OF AUTOMOBILE USE. THE SQUARE WAS WELL-ESTABLISHED BY 1919 BY A FARM TO MARKET ROAD, AND WHEN ROUTE 66 WAS DESIGNATED IN 1926, IT RAN THROUGH THE HEART OF WHITTIER SQUARE AND INFLUENCED BUSINESSES WITHIN THE SHOPPING CENTER. IN TURN, THE ROUTE STIMULATED NEW SERVICES WITHIN WHITTIER SQUARE THAT PROVIDED FOR TRAVELER’S WANTS.15 WHITTIER SQUARE WAS AN IMPORTANT LOCATION AMONG SCHOOLS, CHURCHES AND A COMMUNITY LIBRARY, AND PROVIDED A COMMUNITY FOCUS FOR THE LARGE RESIDENTIAL AREA AROUND IT.

Type: DISTRICT
Historic Function: COMMERCE, TRADE, SOCIAL, GOVERNMENT, DOMESTIC
Current Function: COMMERCE, TRADE, RECREATION/CULTURE, DOMESITC
Area of Significance 1: COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, COMMERCE AND TRADE, TRANSPORTATION
Area of Significance 2: None
Architectural Style: COMMERICAL, MODERNE, BUNGALOW/CRAFTSMAN, NO STYLE
Architect: None
Year Built: 194-1965            Original Site: YES
Condition: GOOD
Restricted: N
Documentation Source: None
Date Prepared: 2012