When Did Tulsa First Have Paved Streets?
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Not long ago I received a question about when Tulsa's streets were first paved. Here's what I found.
City in the Osage Hills, Tulsa, Oklahoma by Courtney Ann and Glen Vaughn-Roberson, Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, CO, (c) 1984, pg 82,
"In 1902 city workers paved First and Second streets with brick. Although there were ten such avenues by 1904, Democrat editors reported that they were in poor condition. By 1907, however, Main street had been transformed from a dry, dusty road in summer or an impassable mudhole in winter to an asphalt byway".
Tulsa's Magic Roots by Nina Lane Dunn published by Oklahoma Book Publishing Co, (c) 1979 - compiled from the private papers of J M Hall and city/county records,
Pg 260, "First Paving"; "In the Summer of 1905, ..., petitions for the paving of First and Second streets were being circulated and Tate Brady was asking for bids to sprinkle oil on the section of Main Street running in front of his hotel."
Pg 261; "Before statehood and the passage of the Curtis Bill it was practically impossible to secure public improvements; there was no way of compelling objectors to pay their share of the paving cost, so any agreement to pave or build sidewalks had to be unamimous". ... "The Curtis bill was signed in April 1906 and Tulsa's street-paving struggle then began."
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"This Page Was Last Updated Saturday, 22-Mar-2008 13:16:00 EDT"