Colcord Hotel is a luxury boutique hotel located in downtown

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. The building was finished in 1909 and has been considered Oklahoma City's first skyscraper. It is tall and has 14 floors. Originally an office tower developed by

Charles Colcord Charles Francis Colcord (August 18, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a cattle rancher, U.S. Marshal, chief of police, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West. The community of Colcord, Oklahoma, is named for him. Colcord's life spanned the Ame ...

, the building was renovated by Coury Hospitality and reopened as a luxury hotel in 2006. Colcord Hotel is a member of

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained authenticity, sense of place, and a ...

, the official program of the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

History

Colcord built the Colcord Building, now known as the Colcord Hotel, which was the first skyscraper in Oklahoma City. It was also the first steel-reinforced concrete building in Oklahoma, because Colcord had seen the devastation to lesser buildings in San Francisco following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires. Originally designed with two wings, only the east wing and connecting elevator/stair segment were constructed. Architect William A. Wells was a protégé of

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

, a founder of the Chicago School style of architecture. Sullivan designed the molds for the decorative terra cotta ornamentation on the first, second, and twelfth floors of the Colcord. 0The building survived Oklahoma City's Urban Renewal efforts and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Developer Paul Coury, with the help of investors including Beck Design and Manhattan Construction, has transformed the office building into a boutique hotel adjacent to the state's tallest building, the new 51 story, 274 metres/900 feet Devon Tower. The Colcord Building is now owned by

Devon Energy Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its primary operations are ...

. Colcord also built the Commerce Exchange Building and the Biltmore Hotel.

Architecture

When the Colcord Building was completed in 1910, at 12 stories, it was the first skyscraper in Oklahoma City. It was constructed by Charles Francis Colcord, who chose William A. Wells as the architect. Wells was a protégé of Louis Sullivan, a founder of the Chicago School style of architecture. Sullivan was also the designer of the molds for the decorative terra cotta, which adorns the first, second, and twelfth floors of the Colcord Building. The building was constructed of reinforced concrete after Colcord witnessed terrible devastation associated with the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires in 1906. He wanted to avoid the same catastrophic loss of his building. Every luxury of the time was incorporated in the construction. Marble adorned the columns and walls of the main lobby, the original nickel and bronze letterbox and elevator doors shone, and an ornamental plaster ceiling crowned the space. The landmark building was listed on the

on November 7, 1976.

References

External links

* {{Oklahoma City skyscrapers 1909 establishments in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Oklahoma City Hotel buildings completed in 1909 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma City Skyscraper hotels in Oklahoma City

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links