Oklahoma City had an exciting and somewhat unusual beginning. Since its settlement in 1889, it has been referred to as a city “born grown” because its population went from about three to approximately 10,000 in one day. Many of those early settlers left within a few days, but those who stayed started building and planning for the city’s future.
The city has seen growth spurts, decline, wealth, disasters, revitalization, tragedy, and triumph. Men of foresight and vision, like Henry Overholser, William Fremont Harn, John Shartel, and Anton Classen, contributed to the success of Oklahoma City and their names are memorialized today by lakes, streets, and museums named after them.
With so much history and change, it would be impossible to cover everything in the space allotted here. Therefore, in this chapter, you will be reading the highlights, an overview of the events that caused major change to Oklahoma City from before its existence to its latest natural disaster.
If you find your interest peaked and you want to read more, head down to the Oklahoma History Center at 2401 North Laird. The building sits across from the capitol on the northeast corner of North Lincoln Boulevard and Northeast 23rd Street. In the history center’s library and archives collection, you will discover pictures, old newspapers, land records, and books. Some of the books I found invaluable while doing my research for this chapter are Born Grown: An Oklahoma City History by Roy P. Stewart, Historic Oklahoma County by Pendleton Woods, and Heart of the Promised Land: Oklahoma County by Bob L. Blackburn. If you like pictures with your history, pick up the Oklahoma City series from the Images of America book series by Terry L. Griffith. Some sources, like Oklahoma City: From Public Land to Private Property by Berlin B. Chapman, The First 8 Months of Oklahoma City by “Bunky” Irving Geffs, and Land Sales: Oklahoma County Land Sales and Land Contests 1889–1994 by LaFonda Owens Manley, can only be found in the archives at the Oklahoma History Center. Take a pencil and a notepad and quarters if you want copies and plan to spend a lot of time. The Oklahoma History Center is not a place you want to hurry through.
Early explorers saw the middle of Indian Territory as a place of promise. Those who wanted to settle the area agreed. It sat along the North Canadian River so there was water and it was centrally located with a means of transportation running through it—the railroad. It was just a matter of time before something big started growing here and when it did, the area changed forever.