National Guard Armory (former) – Tulsa OK

Description

This WPA armory was constructed in 1940-1941.

“The significance of the Tulsa Armory stems from its date  of construction and its enormous size, among other things. Tulsa was not among those scheduled for an armory in 1936, in part because the WPA supported other projects and in part because Tulsa was strongly Republican in politics and armory selection was controlled by Democratic officials in Oklahoma City. The clear need for job opportunities for Tulsa’s unemployed and the willingness of Tulsa County to lease land at no cost to the state as a site for the armory cleared the way for the construction of the project.”   (www.okhistory.org)

The structure remains but is no longer used as an armory:

“Like most of Oklahoma’s National Guard Armories Tulsa’s was a WPA project. It is the second largest armory in the state and was built from native stone. The Oklahoma National Guard has a newer facility on North Mingo and no longer uses this facility. The ownership went back to the city of Tulsa and it has been used for a number of things. There was an earlier plan to demolish it to clear fairgrounds space for something else. The resulting public outcry has persuaded the city council to cancel those plans and [as of 2009] a number of possible uses are being considered.”  (https://historictulsa.blogspot.com)

It is now a part of the Tulsa Fairgrounds.