The Pierce Block is a historic building in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma on the northeast corner of Third Street and Detroit Avenue, that was constructed as a hotel in 1909. According to the Tulsa Preservation Commission, it is the oldest remaining post-statehood hotel in Tulsa. Originally it was a few blocks west of the Midland Valley Railroad passenger station, which was at Third and Greenwood Avenue.Tulsa Preservation Commission. It was the first building in Tulsa that combined retail and residential uses. "Pierce Block". Retrieved December 11, 201

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Building design and use

The building architecture is National Register of Historic Places architectural style categories, Plains Commercial style. According to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) application, it was used continuously as a hotel for seventy years. The hotel was on the second and third floors. The ground floor was largely devoted to retail space and housed the Mammoth Credit Company clothing store until 1929. The Midland Valley station was closed and subsequently demolished after all passenger railroad services transferred to the Union Depot in 1931. Building tenants included primarily a succession of printing companies after 1948. Later, the retail space was occupied successively by a paint and wallpaper store, a vending machine company and a billiard parlor. From 2005 to 2013, it contained the sales offices of

KOTV KOTV-DT (channel 6) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Griffin Media alongside Muskogee, Oklahoma, Muskogee-licensed The CW, CW affiliate KQCW-DT (channel 19) and radio stations KOTV ...

and KQCW television, owned by

Griffin Communications Griffin Media is an American media company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company began as a subsidiary of Muskogee-based Griffin Foods, which produces a line of pancake and waffle syrups and other foods. It owns Oklahoma's two large CBS ...

; KOTV's Tulsa studios were not large enough to house the entire operation until new facilities were completed in 2013. Mimosa Tree Capital Partners acquired the Pierce Block in late 2012, shortly before Griffin vacated the premises. The building is a

utilitarian design Utilitarian design is an art concept that argues for the products to be designed based on the utility (as opposed to the "contemplated pleasure" of beauty). For example, an object intended for a narrow and practical purpose does not need to be aest ...

, with a painted brick exterior. The ground level has store-front windows with

clerestories A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

(which have since been enclosed), and a recessed entrance with a single door and fanlight for the hotel. Over the doorway is a stone inscribed "Pierce Block 1909". A stone string visually divides the first and second floors. The second story has nine arched windows, while the third story has rectangular windows that are defined by horizontal bands. Horizontal brick bands create a false front for the flat roof. The Detroit Avenue elevation has two openings, a freight door and a store display window (now covered with boards. The Pierce Block is the second oldest structure in Tulsa listed on the National Register of Historic Places (the oldest being the Dawson School). Its NRIS number is 79002033.National Register of Historic Places database
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References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Tulsa, Oklahoma Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Hotel buildings completed in 1909 National Register of Historic Places in Tulsa, Oklahoma