Guthrie, Oklahoma – Part Three
2012.12.21
The Logan County Investment Company, backed by St. Louis investors, built the Oklahoma Building in 1901. It housed the Logan County Bank and upstairs offices for the Territorial Governor. The most remarkable feature was a stable in the basement for horses and carriages, way ahead of its time. While the first multi-story automobile parking structure dates from 1918 in Chicago, the first underground parking garage was built under Union Square in San Francisco around 1940.
The 1902 Carnegie Library was the second one built in Oklahoma, now the oldest remaining. Andrew Carnegie donated over $56 million to build 2,811 libraries around the world. Guthrie’s Carnegie Library is reportedly the only one with a dome; the philanthropist considered it a waste of money that could have purchased more books. Since the early 1970’s, the library plus an addition has housed the Oklahoma Territorial Museum. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the museum.
The Blue Bell Saloon opened in 1889 in a wood-frame building which was replaced in 1903. Along with the bar, there was a restaurant and a music store on the ground floor. The “hall” upstairs was probably a bordello. One of the bartenders was Tom Mix, who would later star in numerous silent western films.
Another early saloon was the Same Old Moses. Moses Weinberger arrived with the land rush, at first selling bananas and other fruit. He soon decided liquor would be more profitable. The saloon moved around to various locations, some of which are no longer standing. In 1905, Carrie Nation, a radical leader of the temperance movement, came to Guthrie. She was famous for attacking liquor establishments with a hatchet, and may have damaged the Same Old Moses. Weinberger posted a sign that proclaimed: “All Nations welcome except Carrie”. Oklahoma would enter the Union in 1907 as the first dry state, thirteen years before national Prohibition.
The original Southern Kansas Railway depot was just a small wood-frame building. After becoming part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, this two-story brick depot was completed in 1903.
Guthrie II