Tulsa History: July 2004 Archives

During the Route 66 Festival, we took advantage of the open house at the Mayo Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to see a display of photographs and architectural drawings of Tulsa buildings, including an impressive large aerial photo of downtown Tulsa in 1952. We learned later that Route 66 photos from Beryl Ford's collection were in another part of the building, and I think Mr. Ford himself may have been there.

Thanks to a link on the Mayo Hotel's website -- and it's a great website -- I discovered their gallery which includes photos of many of the Route 66 images and artifacts that were on display, as well as photos of the hotel and the hotel's history. The only complaint (a minor one) is that the amazing detail of that large 1952 aerial photo can't quite be captured in the photo of the photo.

Many of the Route 66 photos are of all sorts of buildings, not just landmarks, so you can see what you would have seen at say, 11th and Rockford in 1949.

A hearty salute to the owners of the Mayo for the restoration work they've done, and for a wonderful website that makes some of Tulsa's history readily accessible.