Here's another that I've been working on which is about 3/5ths done. It traces and discusses, tries to identify, the city's primary builders through its history, using the definition supplied in a 1939 Oklahoman article ...



According to the 1939 article,

What makes a town grow into a little city? What makes a little city blossom into a big city? And what makes a big city develop the stature and the atmosphere of a metropolis?

The answer is: Men. Men with vision. Men with courage. Men with "push" and vitality and ideas. Men who dream dreams and are willing to work hard to make those dreams cone true. Most of all, men who have these qualities leavened with a large helping of community spirit.
After the mid-1930s, it become progressively more difficult to single out individuals who match the definition, particularly the last piece, and I've not finished making a stab at who they are ... I am open to suggestions, but the last piece of the definition is a prerequisite.