Two areas of Route 66 in Oklahoma recently were named to the National Register of Historic Places, according to an email Thursday from the National Park Service.
First, the register recognized the Downtown Claremore Historic District that includes a couple of blocks of Lynn Riggs Boulevard (aka Route 66) and the historic Will Rogers Hotel building that’s being converted into loft apartments.
Second, the Mutual Savings and Loan Association Building at 601-605 NW 23rd St. (aka Route 66) in Oklahoma City was added to the register.
The Claremore district includes an area bounded by Lynn Riggs Boulevard, West Will Rogers Boulevard, Muskogee Avenue, Fourth Street and an alley between West Will Rogers Boulevard and Second Street.
The application notes a few buildings in downtown Claremore date to statehood in the 1880s, but most were constructed from the early 1900s to the 1950s. Forty-four buildings — nearly all of them commercial — sit within the historic district. Almost two-thirds contribute to the district’s historic standing.
According to a KOTV report in July about the National Register application:
Those familiar with Claremore can probably guess some of the building’s histories – radium water bath houses, Route 66 auto shops, and a bookstore that was once a boarding house.
“The Ward Boarding House, on the end, was a boarding house for people who got off the trains,” Jackson said.
The designation will no doubt mean more tourism.
Maude Clemons said, “It’ll bring more people in to shop, which helps Claremore.”
The vacant S&L building, also known as Citizen’s State Bank, was built in 1948, with an addition in 1950 and renovations in 1959, was cited as an example of Modern Movement architectural style from that era.
According to the application, the building design was for business purposes as much as aesthetics:
By physically distinguishing its new branch from the traditional fortress-like bank buildings, Citizen’s State Bank sought to distance itself from recently failed institutions. Interior features reinforced a more personal and service-oriented experience. Citizen’s State Banks illuminated coffered ceiling spanned an open lobby. A visible vault door offered transparency to reassure depositors.
Citizen’s Bank in 1957 also constructed the geodesic dome building a half-mile to the west on Route 66, called the Gold Dome.
(Images via the National Register of Historic Places applications)