Tulsa Tunnels and Historic Buildings

Around the same time I took the pics of Bartlett Square in April of 2003, I found out about the tunnels that connected many of the historic buildings in downtown Tulsa. The first of the tunnels was started in 1929 by Waite Phillips, who originally connected his Philcade to the Philtower. This made him more secure moving from building to building amid a time when a there was a rash of kidnappings of wealthy businessmen. Unfortunately, that leg of the tunnel is no longer open to the public. At one point, there was a radio station that broadcast from underneath the city, and the tunnels were said to be used during prohibition to discreetly supply the oil barons plenty of booze.

In reality, the tunnels aren't really much to speak of. There's only a few relatively short stretches underground and most are interior concourses (read: you walk through the buildings). Regardless, this is a short trip you can take on foot in downtown Tulsa that exposes you to some of the most beautiful art deco architecture this country has to offer.

After several years of sitting on my hard drive, I invite you to view my latest assembled collection of pics, the Tulsa Tunnels photo set. I've also heavily notated a Google Earth map of downtown, showing the paths of the tunnels, concourses and ped. bridges.



Credits: I've "borrowed" liberally from a .PDF map of the "Downtown Tulsa Tunnels and Sky Bridges" (Apr 2003) of unknown origin, as well as historic comments from another source identified only as "SCR Seminar 2005".

Sorry for the inconsistancy of my posting frequency. I still have lots I want to get done, and some that I still just need to compile. Thanks for all the encouraging comments!