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| ID Number |
BC100006627 |
| Historic Name |
AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT (BOUNDARY INCREASE) |
| Description of Significance |
THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT WAS LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ON MARCH 18, 1999 (NRIS #99000351) UNDER CRITERION A FOR ITS COMMERCIAL SIGNIFICANCE AS OKLAHOMA CITY’S AUTOMOBILE RETAILING CENTER DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE BOUNDARY INCREASE AREA ALLOWS FOR INCLUSION OF A KEY RESOURCE THAT TANGIBLY LINKED THE CAR DEALERS TO THE AUTO MANUFACTURERS DURING THE PERIOD. ERECTED IN 1926 FOR THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY, 1 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET (ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED AS 7 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET) SERVED AS THE STATE AND REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION POINT FOR THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY UNTIL 1954. THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT WAS ALSO LISTED UNDER CRITERION C AS AN ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION OF ONE- AND TWO-STORY COMMERCIAL STYLE BUILDINGS RELATED TO THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. AS STATED ON PAGE 22 OF THE 1998 REGISTRATION FORM, “OVER HALF THE BUILDINGS IN THE DISTRICT ARE OF THE COMMERCIAL STYLE (SIC), USUALLY ONE- OR TWO-STORY BRICK STOREFRONTS FLUSH WITH THE SIDEWALK; A FEW BUILDINGS ARE TALLER.” THE CONTRIBUTING BUILDING IN THE BOUNDARY INCREASE AREA IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE LARGER COMMERCIAL STYLE BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN THE AREA DURING THE PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE. EXTENDING THE BOUNDARY EAST OF NORTH BROADWAY AVENUE ALL THE WAY TO THE SANTA FE’S ELEVATED TRACK ALSO ALLOWS THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT TO REFLECT THE IMPACT THAT ELEVATING THE TRACK IN THE EARLY 1930S HAD ON THE AREA, SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE PHYSICAL AND VISUAL SEPARATION BETWEEN THE HISTORIC AUTOMOBILE RETAILING AREA AND THE INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSE AREA TO THE EAST. IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE RAILROAD AND CONSTRUCTED PRIOR TO THE ELEVATION OF THE TRACK, THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY WAS THE FOCUS OF A LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY ITS OWNER TO COLLECT DAMAGES FROM THE SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY AND THE CITY OF OKLAHOMA CITY RELATED TO CONSTRUCTION OF THE ELEVATED TRACK. LISTED 06/04/2021. |
| Current Name |
SAME |
| Address |
NORTH SIDE OF 000 BLOCK OF NORTHWEST 6TH STREET |
| City |
OKLAHOMA CITY |
| County |
OKLAHOMA |
| Lot |
23-32; 37-40 |
| Block |
13 |
| Current Section |
33 |
| Township |
12N |
| Range |
3W |
| Type |
DISTRICT |
| Historic Function |
COMMERCE/TRADE: WAREHOUSE |
| Current Function |
COMMERCE/TRADE: SPECIALTY STORE |
| Area Significance 1 |
COMMERCE |
| Area Significance 2 |
ARCHITECTURE |
| Date Prepared |
2020 |
| Year Built |
1926; 1958; 1999 |
| Original Site |
YES |
| Architect/Builder |
|
| Architectural Style |
20TH CENTURY COMMERCIAL |
| Roof Material |
MEMBRANE |
| Wall Material |
BRICK |
| Window Material |
METAL |
| Door Material |
ALUMINUM |
| Decorative Details |
THE AREA BEING NOMINATED IS A CONTINUATION OF THE AUTOMOBILE-RELATED COMMERCIAL AREA ALONG NORTH BROADWAY AVENUE. AS SHOWN ON THE MAPS IN THE 1998 REGISTRATION FORM, THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF NORTH BROADWAY AVENUE AND NORTHWEST 6TH STREET WITHIN THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT DID NOT CONTAIN ANY BUILDING BEFORE 706 NORTH BROADWAY AVENUE. THIS REMAINS THE CASE, ALTHOUGH THE LOTS HAVE BEEN FENCED WITH A COMBINATION OF CHAIN LINK FENCING ON THE WEST SIDE AND METAL PANELS ON CONCRETE BARRIERS ON THE SOUTH SIDE. THE NORTH-SOUTH ALLEY THAT FORMS THE EAST BOUNDARY OF THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT REMAINS OPEN FROM NORTHWEST 6TH STREET TO NORTHWEST 7TH STREET. THE SOUTH SECTION OF BLOCK 13 HAD AN AUTOMOTIVE ASSOCIATION SINCE 1926 AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY BUILDING AT 1 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET (ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED AS 7 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET, ALIGNING WITH THE LOCATION OF THE FRONT ENTRY). FIVE YEARS LATER, WORK STARTED ON ELEVATING THE AT-GRADE RAILROAD TRACKS OF THE SANTA FE LINE, CAUSING CONSTRUCTION OF AN UNDERPASS AT NORTHWEST 6TH STREET ROUGHLY BEGINNING IN FRONT OF 1 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ELEVATED TRACK CREATED A SUBSTANTIAL PHYSICAL AND VISUAL BARRIER BETWEEN THE AUTOMOTIVE-RELATED DEVELOPMENT TO THE WEST AND THE WAREHOUSE AREA NOW KNOWN AS BRICKTOWN TO THE EAST. AROUND 1947, A SECOND AUTOMOTIVE-RELATED BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED AT 17 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET; HOWEVER, DAMAGE TO THIS BUILDING FROM THE APRIL 19, 1995 BOMBING OF THE ALFRED P. MURRAH FEDERAL BUILDING CAUSED THE BUILDING TO COLLAPSE ON APRIL 22, 1995. UNCERTAINTY OVER THE REPLACEMENT BUILDING LIKELY CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECISION TO NOT INCLUDE THIS SECTION OF NORTHWEST 6TH STREET IN THE ORIGINAL AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARIES. USING FEDERAL DISASTER RESOURCES, A NEW BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1999 IN THE SAME LOCATION. THE REPLACEMENT BUILDING IS CLEARLY UNDERSTANDABLE AS NEW DUE TO THE USE OF GRAY BLOCKS AND THE BUILDING’S SIZEABLE SETBACK FROM NORTHWEST 6TH STREET. |
| Condition |
GOOD |
| Comments |
LISTED ON JUNE 4, 2021. |
| Restricted |
|
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