Capitol Hill Definition

[Doug Loudenback]

Here's a question that bears upon what pics I or others might stick in this thread:

What IS Capitol Hill, exactly, if it has any common accepted definition? South of the east/west railroad tracks, west of the north/south Santa Fe tracks ... I suppose (but am not certain) that those two "boundaries" are correct.

But what about south and west? Welge's book includes Packingtown as part of his Capitol Hill chapter, but how would that be so? Just proximity? The last page of the chapter shows a picture of the Oklahoma City Community College ... I surely don't think of Capitol Hill including that area.

Maybe I'm wearing glasses or blinders that need adjustment. Anyone know of a commonly accepted definition of Capitol Hill?

[Generals64]

Here's a question that bears upon what pics I or others might stick in this thread:

What IS Capitol Hill, exactly, if it has any common accepted definition? South of the east/west railroad tracks, west of the north/south Santa Fe tracks ... I suppose (but am not certain) that those two "boundaries" are correct.

But what about south and west? Welge's book includes Packingtown as part of his Capitol Hill chapter, but how would that be so? Just proximity? The last page of the chapter shows a picture of the Oklahoma City Community College ... I surely don't think of Capitol Hill including that area.

Maybe I'm wearing glasses or blinders that need adjustment. Anyone know of a commonly accepted definition of Capitol Hill?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My conception as from a child...was 29th and penn north to aboaut 18th st.
and then East to Shields....Past Shields was a whole nuther world....I'll get my father-in-law in a talking mode and find out for sure.....the retail area went from the West of shields to Walker (remember 25th st. was called Commerce in that area...)I'll show your book buddies today...I'm getting confused...you know, old-timers disease.....

[papaOU]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My conception as from a child...was 29th and penn north to aboaut 18th st.
and then East to Shields....Past Shields was a whole nuther world....I'll get my father-in-law in a talking mode and find out for sure.....the retail area went from the West of shields to Walker (remember 25th st. was called Commerce in that area...)I'll show your book buddies today...I'm getting confused...you know, old-timers disease.....

I am looking for an old map I found years ago. If I remember correctly North boundary was the river. south 29. I just don't remember east/west divider.
My family have lived in the College Hill Addition for........I have not been able to find information on the addition........

[papaOU]

Here's a question that bears upon what pics I or others might stick in this thread:

What IS Capitol Hill, exactly, if it has any common accepted definition? South of the east/west railroad tracks, west of the north/south Santa Fe tracks ... I suppose (but am not certain) that those two "boundaries" are correct.

But what about south and west? Welge's book includes Packingtown as part of his Capitol Hill chapter, but how would that be so? Just proximity? The last page of the chapter shows a picture of the Oklahoma City Community College ... I surely don't think of Capitol Hill including that area.

Maybe I'm wearing glasses or blinders that need adjustment. Anyone know of a commonly accepted definition of Capitol Hill?

I have never heard that Packingtown was a part of Capitol Hill. I am going to have to do some looking but I may find the boundaries. I guess what matters is what are you asking. Capitol Hill High School boundaries are wide. When I was in school it ran from about High to Portland (or further). North/south is tougher. I am going to say 15th to 44th but I know some CHHS students came from some areas between 44th and 59th. CONFUSED???????

[Prunepicker]

I have never heard that Packingtown was a part of Capitol Hill.

You're right. Packing Town was Packing Town. Capitol Hill was Capitol Hill.

[Martin]

found the sign... it's on the nw corner of se 25th & shields.

here's a link to google streetview -M

[Doug Loudenback]

M, no I don't seem to have a map or plat of the incorporated city. I looked in the 1905 Township maps but it doesn't seem to show municipalities. I've looked in the 1906 Sanborn maps but they doesn't show the Capitol Hill are in the Oklahoma City map (which goes no further south than the river) and a separate map isn't present for Capitol Hill. The next sequential Sanborn map is 1922, so they aren't helpful with this. So, striking out so far, but I'm still looking.

[Doug Loudenback]

ON EDIT: The map I got all hot and bothered about is Capitol Hill in Logan County. Bummer. I'll leave the post, but modify it.

I've been scouring OHS's Star Archives this morning for anything I could find on Capitol Hill, and I've saved quite a few of the small pics available there.

But, [I first thought] here's the biggie ...

A PDF file is there showing the Capitol Hill Townsite in 1892 ... whether this became official I don't presently know, but if so this may mean that what I've read before about incorporation in 1904 or 1905 is incorrect (although the information may also be reconcilable). [Error - the map is Capitol Hill in Logan County]

Regardless, this is a map lover's delight (I'm particularly thinking of you, M). I've extracted the image from the PDF file and here it is:

Largest File Size (1692 x 3999 px): http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...nsite_1892.jpg

Large File Size (1024 x 2420 px): http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49..._1892_1024.jpg

The 800 x 1891 px version is shown below:



ON EDIT: WRONG WRONG WRONG. This is Capitol Hill in LOGAN COUNTY. Too bad. Back to the drawing boards.

[Steve]

Doug, I recall running across a map once in the downtown library's archives of the Capitol Hill Beacon. I wonder if Buddy could help out on this one?

[Doug Loudenback]

OK, getting warmer. Though not nearly as sexy as a great townsite map would have been, I've located this article in the Metropolitan Library Images collection (you may need to press your refresh button - F5 - after clicking the link). Part of the article reads:

"South of the River" - The Community of Capitol Hill
by Jana C. Hausburg

It should have been the home of the state capitol. At least, that was the plan. Home to a promising hill overlooking much of Oklahoma City, the area was named accordingly by B.R. Harrington, a newspaper correspondent for the Wichita Beacon. In 1900, he purchased the land from Miss Tryphosa Boyd, who had been among the early settlers attracted to the area after the Land Run of 1889, when Oklahoma lands were opened by the Federal Government. Her deed bore the signature of President Grover Cleveland.

Harrington platted the 160-acre tract near the old Santa Fe Trail and staked out individual lots for sale. His purpose, said Harrington, was to give "sober and industrious mechanics an opportunity to secure homes."

First Bridge Over the North Canadian, approx. route of Robinson Ave.
click for larger view
The site originally extended from Walker to Santa Fe, and from what is now called SW 22nd to SW 29th, the north boundary being the North Canadian River. Later, it grew to incorporate Penn Ave. on the west, SW 44th on the southern edge, stretching all the way to I-35 on the east.

"At the time Capitol Hill was surveyed, I used a county surveyor, a fellow named Williamson," Harrington was quoted in the Capitol Hill Beacon 60th Anniversary edition. "He asked me what I was going to call the place. I said, ‘Why, Capitol Hill, of course´." Thus, Capitol Hill had the distinguishing characteristic of being the only town in Oklahoma considered as a site for the state capitol before it was even a city. Unfortunately, despite vigorous campaigning on the part of Harrington and his associates, the state capitol was located elsewhere.
* * *
Before eventually becoming a suburb of Oklahoma City, Capitol Hill was an incorporated town, with a decree of incorporation being granted on May 3, 1904. George Flanagan was the first mayor of Capitol Hill, from 1906-1910, and it was during his term that citizens of the area petitioned Oklahoma City for annexation. The vote was 1407 to 188 for annexation, although only citizens of Oklahoma City were allowed to vote; Capitol Hill residents were prohibited from taking part in the election.

Capitol Hill Senior High School Reading Room, 530 SW Grand Blvd.
click for larger view

On December 6, 1909, Capitol Hill became part of Oklahoma City, bringing to the coffers a bonus of more than $12,000 - clearly a boon for Oklahoma City government. However, some Capitol Hill residents had complaints.

"Annexation delayed our improvement and deprived us of many things we could have had long ago," complained an unnamed citizen in the July 1910 issue of the Capitol Hill Beacon. "We could have had sidewalks, paving and a city hall. Instead, our enemies stuck on you a 15 ½ mill tax levy, most of which was later spent on the north side."

[Doug Loudenback]

OK. You win.

[Generals64]

OK. You win.

Thanks Doug:....The southside of Okc has contributed many things to the growth of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Proper. We as citizens in the area should be proud and excited by the fact that the recognition of Capitol Hill is coming light. Most people in OKC don't even realize the advancement that the people of South OKC have put forth. Generals64 (U.S. Grant Generals that is...Southside school).

[papaOU]

I am still looking for that darn map of the original Capitol Hill. I know where everything of mine is until I need it!!

[dismayed]

Isn't the area just south of Capitol Hill/29th actually known as Hillcrest? I don't think it is part of Capitol Hill.

[papaOU]

I snagged this from the Beacon.

The Capitol Hill area, across the river from downtown Oklahoma City, was settled around 1900, and was incorporated as a city in 1905, though Oklahoma City proper had already spread south of the river itself — Wheeler Park was established in 1903, with the first incarnation of the Oklahoma City Zoo following in 1904. (A flood destroyed much of the park in 1923; the Zoo was relocated across town.)

In 1911, Capitol Hill was annexed by Oklahoma City, but was never quite wholly absorbed; the southside area had its own chamber of commerce, its own community newspaper (the Beacon, still being published), even its own downtown along Commerce Street, which hardly anyone, even today, calls Southwest 25th Street, even though technically that's what it is.

How the two sides of the city grew so far apart over the years is open to debate. It seems reasonable to infer that since city offices, located downtown, are north of the river, the movers and shakers of Oklahoma City's early years tended to spend most of their time, and presumably their efforts, on areas north of the river. W. H. Dunn, as far back as 1909, had envisioned a circular boulevard surrounding the city, and the circle was incorporated into the city plan around 1930. But it wasn't all that circular, nor was its center near the center of town; the northern loop of the eventual Grand Boulevard was built more than five miles north of downtown, beyond NW 63rd Street, but the southern loop was less than a mile south of Commerce Street, along SW 36th Street. It's hard to imagine this asymmetry being accidental.

Whatever the reasons, Capitol Hill eventually went into a tailspin. Many businesses closed; others relocated farther south, closer to the proposed Southwest Expressway, now I-240, which began construction in 1961. And in 1972, the Finger Plan, intended as a remedy for school segregation, proved to be the impetus for massive white flight, much of it to the Moore school district, whose northern boundary was SW/SE 82nd Street.

Note: I removed one paragraph dealing with the Little Flower Community.


And when in recent years the Latino population began to grow beyond the immediate vicinity of Little Flower, they moved to the west, toward the Stockyards, and north from there; and to the south, across the river, and into Capitol Hill. The Capitol Hill Elementary School, built in 1920 at SW 27th and Robinson, is these days about 60 percent Hispanic; Heronville, built in 1928 on SW 29th east of Blackwelder, is about 75 percent. (Heronville, incidentally, is getting a major facelift and expansion from MAPS for Kids.) None of this, of course, was predicted in that 1930 city plan. But cities, being composed of people first and infrastructure second, have a way of evolving that defies easy prognostication. If you've been thinking of Oklahoma City as a white-bread Protestant sort of place, you haven't been paying attention. One of the reasons I write these pieces is simply that for many years I wasn't paying attention either.

Update: A reader has chided me for leaving the impression that this side of the city was always some sort of Spanish-speaking enclave, which of course it wasn't; it was around 1990 (hence, "in recent years") before the Mexican-American community made any serious inroads south of the river. One continuing presence, though, has been Catholicism: Mount St. Mary School on Shartel north of 29th dates to before statehood, and has been an anchor for the southside Catholic community, then largely Irish, now less so, pretty much ever since.

The "Vent" #421
15 Janurary, 2005
Updated 28 December, 2007

| Vent menu | E-mail to Chaz

Copyright © 2005, 2007 by Charles G. Hill

[Doug Loudenback]

I snagged this from the Beacon.

Thanks, good read. What is the Beacon issue date? I'd like to go to the library and scan it.

I'd planned to go to the Norick Library today but I went to sleep instead during the OU basketball game ... before and after, I was copying Capitol Hill photos from the OHS Star Archives and researching the Oklahoman's archives for early-day Capitol Hill stuff. I started at the earliest available (1901), went through 1907, skipped to the period that the annexation election occurred (on 12/6/1909) through 1911.

I've set up a Capitol Hill folder in my Photobucket account and that's where I'll stick all this stuff for those who are interested: capitolhill pictures by DougLoudenback - Photobucket . It's got quite a lot in it already.

[Prunepicker]

I snagged this from the Beacon.

Is the Beacon still published? Wow. I remember seeing it but it never
crossed my mind that it was that old.

Live and learn, sometimes.

[Stan Silliman]

Is the Beacon still published? Wow. I remember seeing it but it never
crossed my mind that it was that old.

Live and learn, sometimes.

C'mon Prune, you claim to be a southsider but you never pick up a Beacon?
It's the second oldest paper in the metro. David and Gay Sellers are still there, still publishing.

If you pick a Beacon, turn to the back page. My column has been in there since 1988.

[papaOU]

C'mon Prune, you claim to be a southsider but you never pick up a Beacon?
It's the second oldest paper in the metro. David and Gay Sellers are still there, still publishing.

If you pick a Beacon, turn to the back page. My column has been in there since 1988.

Prune! Please pay for it when you pickup one up!!

[Generals64]

Prune! Please pay for it when you pickup one up!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey come on you guys, he's got to learn to read first. He probably thinks the beacon is a light shining on Capitol Hill....I'll go tomorrow and have one ready for Prunette to read to him when they get back from assylum....whoops, wasn't supposed to let that one slip ...never mind forget everything

[Prunepicker]

Isn't the area just south of Capitol Hill/29th actually known as Hillcrest? I
don't think it is part of Capitol Hill.

I never thought Hillcrest went that far north. We lived south of 59th and
that area was called Hillcrest.

You may be right. I don't know.

[papaOU]

Here is the link to the article. I say it was from the Beacon but now I am not sure.

The Vent #421
There had almost always been a community of transplanted Mexicans in the city. ... 421. 15 January 2005. Updated 28 December 2007 | Vent menu | E-mail to Chaz ...The Vent #421 - Cached

[SOUTHSIDE GIRL]

The Grill on 25th Street, had a copy of the old Capitol Hill map posted on a board. It you get a chance you might go in and see it the new owners sitll have it up. The Beacon should also have something

[USG '60]

Back in the 50s those of us who went to Grant considered ourselves Capitol Hillians. We were kind of the NEW Capitol Hill High School. Back then we would have defined the lines to have included Hillcrest (so I-240 to the south) and west to Partland. The river on the north and Shiellds on the east. We were proud to be part of Capitol Hill and even though we were ordinarially enemies, when on the northside we were friends.

[papaOU]

Back in the 50s those of us who went to Grant considered ourselves Capitol Hillians. We were kind of the NEW Capitol Hill High School. Back then we would have defined the lines to have included Hillcrest (so I-240 to the south) and west to Partland. The river on the north and Shiellds on the east. We were proud to be part of Capitol Hill and even though we were ordinarially enemies, when on the northside we were friends.

I agree. I still feel that way. I think now it is more a southside issue. Unfortunately, we may be the last of our breed. Most younger people and kids don't care about our areas tradition and have very little sense of belonging.