320 South Boston Building Tulsa

The  320 South Boston Building, (formerly known as the Exchange National Bank Building and National Bank of Tulsa Building),started as a twelve story building and opened in 1918.  It was designed in the Neo-Classical style by architect George Winkler.

The building has continuously been home to a bank and is now a location for a branch of the Bank of Oklahoma at the street level.

The building's first phase opened in 1918 and was designed in the Neo-Classical style by George Winkler, who also designed the Mayo Hotel. Five years later (1922-23) was the second phase, construction of floors 1-12 of the mid-section. The third phase (1927-28) included the building’s prominent 22-story tower section, making it the city’s tallest structure for almost 30 years. The south end floors 1-12 were also built during this stage. There are some sources that say the cupola at the top was designed to be a zeppelin mooring station.

I came across this old post card on Pinterest.

A 1940's article ran in the Tulsa World Newspaper detailing the building's history.

This photo shows the airship U.S.S. Los Angeles, a German-built Zeppelin operated by the U.S. Navy, which flew over Tulsa on its way back to its home base in Lakehurst, New Jersey back in the 1930's.  Note the Philtower building under the tail of the zepplin. 
To see my post about the Philtower building, click HERE

There is an old photo displayed in the west lobby that shows the original bank teller lines.

This is a photo looking the same direction as the historic one above. Note that they have since filled in part of the area with a mezzanine.

This is a photo the hand painted murals on the ceiling in the main entry lobby.

The main entrance also has a carved marble frieze on the wall above the entry.

Here is a photo of the main floor elevator lobby.  The building still has the original brass elevator doors and mailbox.  The glass chutes above the mail box are connected to letter drops on the upper floors.

The mezzanine has escalators that are said to be the first in Oklahoma.

The basement level still has one of the original marble drinking fountains.  This part of the basement connects to Tulsa's downtown tunnel system.

The basement also contains a large vault with safe deposit boxes.

Here is what the building looks like today looking North. You can see a glimpse of the Bank of Oklahoma tower in the background. It was designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki. He was also the architect for the World Trade Center in NYC. The Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) Tower used the same design as the World Trade Center towers, except that it is 50 stories tall instead of 100.

Here is a view of the building today looking South.  The building sits on the west side of Boston Avenue and extends a full city block between Third and Fourth Streets. Wikipedia calls the building's architectural style "Beaux Arts." The building is covered in brick with terra cotta trim. The lower two stories are covered in stone. The central tower steps back at the 20th floor, with a two story arcade section, which is topped by a 'Greek Temple' fronted section. For many years, the cupola was illuminated by floodlights whose color changed according to the latest weather forecast. Green light meant a fair weather forecast, while red lights signified an approaching storm

This view shows the back of the building with the BOK tower in the background.  The building with the green awning is called Reunion Center and is where I started my architecture career in Tulsa.

The building has some great neo-classical brass detailing on the lower levels at the doors and windows.

I found the pictures below of the inside of the cupola.  It has remained virtually unchanged since it was constructed in 1928.  The lower photo shows the chimney that penetrates each floor and serves the boilers in the basement.