Historic Capitol Hill

[Doug Loudenback]

Yes, both the Yale and the next door Air Dome predated the Circle and probably did present vaudeville as well as motion pictures. In fact, both of these theaters predated the theater which is commonly called Oklahoma City's 1st suburban theater, the Victoria at NW 18th & Classen which opened in 1929. Of course, that's true for Deep Deuce's 1919 Aldridge Theater, as well.

Here's an August 8, 1920, ad for the Capitol Hill Airdome:



The earliest ad and mention of the Yale that I've found so far in the Oklahoman is the September 18, 1921, ad below, even though I expect that the Yale existed earlier than that. The County Assessor's page for this property shows that the present structure was built in 1918 and that the property was purchased by Caporal on November 11, 1911.



Notice the text in the April 10, 1938, article below. The reporter said, by the article's date, that Caporal had been in the entertainment business for 25 years. 1938-25 years = 1913. Note that the reporter said that the air dome preceded the Yale.



I am acquainted with the elder Caporal's grandson, also a Sam, and I'd hoped by now to have talked with him at length about the Yale but I've missed him. When I first asked him about it briefly this past Monday, he said that the Yale was built in 1904 but I think he misstated about that. If the article is correct, his grandfather didn't come to Oklahoma until 1912. Anyway, I'll be following this up with grandson Sam this week and, if we get lucky, he'll have some old photos.

A couple of comments at the Cinema Treasures website read this way:

Yale Cinema 1905-1983, Streamline styling, 500 seats, Barton Cinemas. Southside OKC's first theatre. While the facade received several facelifts through many decades, the auditorium always retained its original, nickelodeon, Plain Jane appearance.

The above is incorrect as to the Barton Cinemas part. They were Caporal properties. The 1905 date is very suspect, also. But, the next comment rings true:

From Boxoffice Magazine, September 21, 1946: "The Yale Theatre, which has been closed for remodeling the last five months, is due to open late this month, Sam Caporal, owner-operator, said. The house will be completely new from front to back, and will have an additional 300 seats, making the seating capacity about 800."

The latter is consistent with the following September 30, 1946, ad which reads as though the Yale had been given a thorough going over:



I hope to have more on the Yale shortly.

[ddavidson8]

Great stuff Doug. I love your passion.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks!

[Doug Loudenback]

Updating Caporal's beginning date in the theater business, a series of ads which ran during that part of 1946 that the Yale was closed for remodeling looked like the following June 22, 1946, ad below:



A line reads, "Established 1916." Presumably, that refers to the Yale (as opposed to the Air Dome). After the Yale reopened in October 1946, space in the group ads included the offerings of the Yale, and the above middle section, including the "Established 1916," reference was no longer used.

[Doug Loudenback]

OK. I need some more help from you CHOGs ... J.C. Pennys. The Oklahoman's search engine for this story (city wide) is 100% crap ... either that, or there were no stories or ads about Pennys which is hard to believe. The few that do turn up (regardless of decade, year, whatever period is searched) are meaningless and aren't even about Pennys at all.

Soooo... what can you tell me? Opening? Closing? You guys haven't mentioned Pennys much even though it clearly occupied an important chunk of Commerce Street.

On edit: here's a very nice October 12, 1947, article I'd found earlier when gathering information about Brown's ... it mentioned Pennys being constructed, also. This March 5, 1948, article is about Brown's opening on that day, so Penny's must have been around the same time ... but I'd prefer more exactness if that's doable.

The October 12, 1947 article ... contains several nice items ... notice the quote from the town's founder, B.R. Harrington, then blind but still living ...

[Generals64]

OK. I need some more help from you CHOGs ... J.C. Pennys. The Oklahoman's search engine for this story (city wide) is 100% crap ... either that, or there were no stories or ads about Pennys which is hard to believe. The few that do turn up (regardless of decade, year, whatever period is searched) are meaningless and aren't even about Pennys at all.

Soooo... what can you tell me? Opening? Closing? You guys haven't mentioned Pennys much even though it clearly occupied an important chunk of Commerce Street.

On edit: here's a very nice October 12, 1947, article I'd found earlier when gathering information about Brown's ... it mentioned Pennys being constructed, also. This March 5, 1948, article is about Brown's opening on that day, so Penny's must have been around the same time ... but I'd prefer more exactness if that's doable.

The October 12, 1947 article ... contains several nice items ... notice the quote from the town's founder, B.R. Harrington, then blind but still living ...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey, that fire station building is still there. As far as Penny's they closed before JAB ( I think this is right) there was an Asbestos problem and they (Penny's ) closed since Crossroads was opening soon.....

[papaOU]

BOTHfire stations are still there. The one on Robinson was a Salvation Army Community Center. Small place but the thing was designed for senior citizens. This one was an Indian location. Evey Friday they sold n-d-n tacos.

I am afraid that the J.C. Penny's in CH was like John A Brown's. We never shopped there at least regular, so its demise went without notice.

[Doug Loudenback]

I had thought that the 1st time that Capitol Hill appeared in the available Sanborn Maps was 1922. Not so. Before 1922, the prior version of such maps available through the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System on-line Sanborn Maps was/is 1906, and Capitol Hill was included in that version. The maps generally show a sparsely inhabited area (i.e., not many dwellings or other buildings are shown to be present) and, with one exception, they are not particularly notable. If you want to see them for yourselves, click the links at the end of this post ... I've reduced the size down to 1024 px wide from their original 5100 px wide size but you can still read them.

The exception is part of page 93 which shows the area embraced within the "CapitAl" Hill definition and shows the location of a school identified as "Capital Hill School" at what would be the northwest corner of Harvey & SW 29th today. The notations in this page are also informative:

Population: 1500.
Water facilities – private wells & cisterns only.
Fire department – not organized, volunteers only.
1 hook & ladder truck, 20 fire pails.
Prevailing winds – south. Streets not paved.
Grades generally level. No Public lights.

Cropped portions of page 93 (click on image for larger):



The school mentioned is presumably the one referred to in this August 15, 1906, article:



Other than electrical power for trolley lines which had separate electrical power contracts (by 1908, the Oklahoma Railway Company had its own power plant via its Belle Isle facility; the trolley lines east of the Santa Fe RR were part of the Patterson line (Oklahoma Traction Company) until it was bought out by the ORC in 1913) Capitol Hill was without electricity per the March 2, 1909, article below.



In Jana Hausburg's article at the MLS website (press F5 after clicking the link if it does not automatically load),

In July of that year, OG&E received a franchise to install electricity in the Capitol Hill area, with an agreement to leave street lights off during nights when a full moon was shining.

As yet, I've not located a similar Oklahoman article to that effect, and I'm a bit unsure of the statement since, in January or so 1910 Capitol Hill's annexation by Oklahoma City was a fait accompli and, so, presumably, Okc's contract with OG&E would have extended to the new boundaries established by the annexation.

The town would have to wait until 1907 to get telephone service, per the January 15, 1907, article below:



So, in this time, Capitol Hill had no electricity, no phones, no public utilities of any kind other than the quasi-public utility of the trolleys. To boot, until a "wagon" bridge over the North Canadian on Robinson was done ... see the June 19, 1906, article below ... only a foot bridge connected Capitol Hill to Oklahoma City.



Small wonder, then, that many in Capitol Hill wanted to be annexed by Oklahoma City ... which of course is another story.

You can see the detailed Sanborn Map pages of Capitol Hill at the links below:

Page 93: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...n_1906_p93.jpg

Page 94: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...n_1906_p94.jpg

Page 95: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...n_1906_p95.jpg

Page 96: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...n_1906_p96.jpg

[Martin]

on your map, i'd say that:

lincoln = walnut... sheilds runs parallel and just west of the atsf.
ohio = central
college = stiles

-M

[Doug Loudenback]

on your map, i'd say that:

lincoln = walnut... sheilds runs parallel and just west of the atsf.
ohio = central
college = stiles

-M

I did have trouble matching up ... I'll have another look.

[Doug Loudenback]

Martin said that

on your map, i'd say that:

lincoln = walnut... sheilds runs parallel and just west of the atsf.
ohio = central
college = stiles
-M

I'd say that Martin was 100% correct! The original map shown in the earlier post has been revised (you may have to press F5 to refresh the map) and I've also added some additional factoids in the same post about utility service relevant to that period of time.

Thanks a bunch, Martin, for catching my mistakes!

[Doug Loudenback]

I think that I'm nearing the end of the research for the "final" Capitol Hill article ... though a few loose ends still remain but research for those items shouldn't take too much time.

As part of the "today" section of the article, I thought that photos of the historic points of ingress/egress to/from Capitol Hill and downtown Okc should be included -- I'll need to add something on the Shields-to-downtown connection, also -- but here are the Robinson & Walker photos.

Improvements to the bridges on Walker and Robinson over the Oklahoma River as part of MAPS (I) were/are certainly helpful and hopeful signs associated with these corridors.

The immediate impact along Robinson from the improved bridge doesn't show particularly remarkable improvement from what it was before the bridge was improved. Mostly populated by depreciating properties and low-end commercial ventures today, this corridor nonetheless still holds promise to become a beautiful thoroughfare connecting Capitol Hill and downtown Okc, something it never achieved during all of my review of Capitol Hill history. Civic pleas for improvement of this stretch date back to the 1930s or so.

For whatever cause, the part of Robinson extending south of Reno toward and into Capitol Hill has never seen any significant influx of private capital north of SW 26th or so as to make it something special. Maybe the corridor is a little better today than, say, 10 years ago -- it is cleaner, at least -- but no serious capital investment has occurred from the private sector, ever. Perhaps that will come as the Core To Shore development progresses with all of its promise.

Historically, the Walker connection to Capitol Hill was the most vital to Capitol Hill development, as well as the most attractive. In my judgment, that remains true today. The Rock Island underpass at Walker is far and away superior to its more narrow Robinson counterpart 3 blocks to the east.

Click on an image below for a 1024 px wide view.

Robinson Driving South Into Capitol Hill Today









Walker Driving North From Capitol Hill Today

[Doug Loudenback]

What can you tell me about the Capitol Hill YMCA?

I see that a Capitol Hill Branch YMCA was authorized in February 1953 and that its first permanent structure opened 9/12/1960 at 5325 S. Pennsylvania; that its name changed to "South Oklahoma City YMCA" in 1970; and that it has since relocated well south of Capitol Hill to 11801 S. May.

But, a 11/1/1970 article says that until the 5325 S. Penn facility was constructed that the Y's offices were located in quarters donated by Dr. W.H. Stotts, Capitol Hill dentist, in 11/1953.

Questions for CHOGs:

(1) Do you know where the 11/1953 office was located;

(2) Until the 5325 S. Penn facility was built, do you know where the Capitol Hill YMCA activities were conducted (if at any one place ... they may have been spread around)?
ON EDIT AS TO (2): I see that the Y's activities were spread around to various places in Capitol Hill before the 5325 S. Pennsylvania facility was established. But, as to (1), I've still not located the office of the Capitol Hill Y before that time.

[papaOU]

What can you tell me about the Capitol Hill YMCA?

I see that a Capitol Hill Branch YMCA was authorized in February 1953 and that its first permanent structure opened 9/12/1960 at 5325 S. Pennsylvania; that its name changed to "South Oklahoma City YMCA" in 1970; and that it has since relocated well south of Capitol Hill to 11801 S. May.

But, a 11/1/1970 article says that until the 5325 S. Penn facility was constructed that the Y's offices were located in quarters donated by Dr. W.H. Stotts, Capitol Hill dentist, in 11/1953.

Questions for CHOGs:

(1) Do you know where the 11/1953 office was located;

(2) Until the 5325 S. Penn facility was built, do you know where the Capitol Hill YMCA activities were conducted (if at any one place ... they may have been spread around)?
ON EDIT AS TO (2): I see that the Y's activities were spread around to various places in Capitol Hill before the 5325 S. Pennsylvania facility was established. But, as to (1), I've still not located the office of the Capitol Hill Y before that time.

Why is it next to impossible to find Dr. Stotts office? The building where Sheen's Drug is located (n.e. corner of Robinson and Commerce) was a two-story building and his office was on the second floor.
My Dad had some dental work done by him and while in he "chair" noticed the Dr.'s discharge papers he received following WWI. When Dad asked him about the documents Dr. Stoots proceeded to tell his "war stories" during that visit and carried on same whenever Dad made a visit.
I'm not being negative concerning his stories but rather find it comical how "old" people can carry-on in such a manner........

Hey! Wait......that means me as well.

[papaOU]

During the mid '60's the Yale Theater did away with their concession stand and replaced it with all vending machines. Bad move. Stale popcorn. Watery cokes. Money gets lodged or machine takes it and gives nothing in return.

Later on in life I found it's the same story with a wife.........

[ddavidson8]

Doug, I'd be really interested in a story about movie theaters around OKC. I don't think there is much on this board besides the work you've done. By the way, one of the theater website I really like is cinematour.com. You may have to google it as typing it into your own address bar may not work.

[Doug Loudenback]

Doug, I'd be really interested in a story about movie theaters around OKC. I don't think there is much on this board besides the work you've done. By the way, one of the theater website I really like is cinematour.com. You may have to google it as typing it into your own address bar may not work.

Thanks, and I agree that this needs to be done. I've pretty much finished a "downtown" article already (aside from some very old theaters I've not yet added): Doug Dawgz Blog: Let's Go Downtown To The Movies . Eventually, I hope to finish that up and add another which is broader in scope but I'm not sure when that will happen. There are a few isolated theaters in the undone vintage map project: Doug Dawgz Blog: Vintage Oklahoma City Clickable Map

Some general links: Cinema Treasures | Search Theaters

The one you mentioned: CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - United States - Oklahoma and CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - United States - Oklahoma

[Doug Loudenback]

Why is it next to impossible to find Dr. Stotts office? The building where Sheen's Drug is located (n.e. corner of Robinson and Commerce) was a two-story building and his office was on the second floor.
My Dad had some dental work done by him and while in he "chair" noticed the Dr.'s discharge papers he received following WWI. When Dad asked him about the documents Dr. Stoots proceeded to tell his "war stories" during that visit and carried on same whenever Dad made a visit.
I'm not being negative concerning his stories but rather find it comical how "old" people can carry-on in such a manner........

Hey! Wait......that means me as well.

Thanks, that's helpful. The article doesn't say that the Y's offices were at his location, though ... it says that it was located in quarters donated by Dr. W.H. Stotts ... which may well be at his office location but that would be a guess. Do you know?

[Generals64]

Thanks, that's helpful. The article doesn't say that the Y's offices were at his location, though ... it says that it was located in quarters donated by Dr. W.H. Stotts ... which may well be at his office location but that would be a guess. Do you know?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey doug:....Whoever ddavidson8 is hasn't read through our threads. I can't remember which one but, I'm sure PapaOU will. There is about three pages FULL of information on theaters in OKC and Surrounding areas. Not only are the stories there but the names of ALL movie and theater houses are listed....If papa can't find it we'll start retracing our footsteps. Papa:.......it was in the old Southside memories thread when Redskins/General was there. He (red/Gen) has a tremendous knowledge of all of the theaters.....A lot of your work on that project is finished Doug, we've just got to find it and get some input from other posters......

[Generals64]

Thanks, and I agree that this needs to be done. I've pretty much finished a "downtown" article already (aside from some very old theaters I've not yet added): Doug Dawgz Blog: Let's Go Downtown To The Movies . Eventually, I hope to finish that up and add another which is broader in scope but I'm not sure when that will happen. There are a few isolated theaters in the undone vintage map project: Doug Dawgz Blog: Vintage Oklahoma City Clickable Map

Some general links: Cinema Treasures | Search Theaters

The one you mentioned: CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - United States - Oklahoma and CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - United States - Oklahoma

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doug:...in your pictures of Walker gong North of Capitol Hill there is a Billboard picture with a spanish advertisement...Under that billboard on Walker at the corner of 25th and Walker there were some retail shops there forever....They have only been dozed down in the past few years. Some of the guys/Gals should have some good stories as this place was always "seedy" in my memories....

[Generals64]

thanks, that's helpful. The article doesn't say that the y's offices were at his location, though ... It says that it was located in quarters donated by dr. W.h. Stotts ... Which may well be at his office location but that would be a guess. Do you know?

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888888

doug: Go to the bottom of page 24 on the old southside memories thread started by teriokc. The battles of the minds began right in there....if i can get red/gen to participate he can save you all the research work involved......

[Doug Loudenback]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doug:...in your pictures of Walker gong North of Capitol Hill there is a Billboard picture with a spanish advertisement...Under that billboard on Walker at the corner of 25th and Walker there were some retail shops there forever....They have only been dozed down in the past few years. Some of the guys/Gals should have some good stories as this place was always "seedy" in my memories....

I guess you mean this one:



The earliest aerial available at the county assessor's website for that location, 3/6/2003, shows the property already empty, so it's been at least 6 years ago that the buildings were razed.



If by seedy you mean raucous outrageous behavior/activity, that's the stuff of good storytelling. If you just mean dilapidated and run down, there's no fun in that!

Do you mean good seedy? If so, let the seedy stories begin!

[Doug Loudenback]

doug: Go to the bottom of page 24 on the old southside memories thread started by teriokc. The battles of the minds began right in there....if i can get red/gen to participate he can save you all the research work involved......

Thanks, I'll have a look.

On Edit: I've looked, beginning at MY page 24 of that thread, which starts at this point: OKCTalk - View Single Post - Southside OKC Memories....anyone? ... I mention "MY" page 24 since pages will vary depending on how you've set up your options in the software here (# of comments per page or something like that). I continued for several pages and then stopped since I couldn't figure out why you sent me there. Interesting reading, for sure, which went all over the map.

Since your reply was to this one by me (which you slightly revised as follows) ...

Thanks, that's helpful. The article doesn't say that the y's offices were at his location, though ... It says that it was located in quarters donated by dr. W.h. Stotts ... Which may well be at his office location but that would be a guess. Do you know?

... I assumed you were pointing me to some YMCA location information, earlier than the 5325 S. Penn location. If it was there, I didn't see it.

[papaOU]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doug:...in your pictures of Walker gong North of Capitol Hill there is a Billboard picture with a spanish advertisement...Under that billboard on Walker at the corner of 25th and Walker there were some retail shops there forever....They have only been dozed down in the past few years. Some of the guys/Gals should have some good stories as this place was always "seedy" in my memories....

Don't know why you used the term "seedy".

The business next to the alley on the east side of Walker was a slot car track and later became an American Legion Post or VFW Hall don't remember which one.

During the mid to late '70's the D.A.'s office wanted to show they were protecting us from criminal enterprises. They raided the place for illegal gambling. Seems that they had weekly bingo games which were illegal.
The cops didn't take them in but rather booked on site, Name, address, etc. poor old ladies. Don't know if they were fined or not. My Grandmother was one of the gangsta's. Only time in her entire 87 years she was ever involved on the wrong side of the law.

The west side was an auto parts store, a barber shop, woodworking shop and on the n.w. corner of 25th and Walker was a Texaco station.

[Doug Loudenback]

Don't know why you used the term "seedy".
* * *
* * * Seems that they had weekly bingo games which were illegal.
The cops didn't take them in but rather booked on site, Name, address, etc. poor old ladies. Don't know if they were fined or not. My Grandmother was one of the gangsta's. Only time in her entire 87 years she was ever involved on the wrong side of the law.

Well, if THAT'S what Generals64 meant by seedy, we'll need to be working on our definitions, won't we?