Colcord Hotel

Surname Index
Updated: 17 Jan 2012

Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March 10, 1936, page 2

Colcord Hotel,
15 N Robinson Ave,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Recognized as Oklahoma City's 1st skyscraper, the Colcord was built as an office building way back in 1910. After recent extensive renovations, the Colcord Hotel building was restored to its original art deco style.

When the Colcord Building was completed in 1910, at 12 stories it was the first skyscraper built in Oklahoma City. This building was built by Charles Francis Colcord, who selected William A. Wells as the architect for his building. Wells was a protégé of Louis Sullivan, a founder of the Chicago School style of architecture. Sullivan was also the designer of the molds for the decorative terra cotta, which clads the first, second and twelfth floors of the Colcord Building. At Colcord’s direction, the building was constructed of steel-reinforced concrete. Colcord had witnessed the terrible devastation associated with the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires in 1906 and wanted to avoid the same catastrophic loss of his building in Oklahoma City.

Black and white marble adorns the columns and walls of the main lobby, the original nickel and bronze letter box and elevator doors gleam, and an ornamental plaster ceiling crowns the space. Colcord’s monogram, CFC, in flowing script is seen on door hardware and in the exterior terra cotta ornament. The Colcord has served as a prime office and commercial address for the Oklahoma City business community for over 90 years. Even urban renewal, which leveled most buildings along Sheridan Avenue, left the Colcord Building standing and untouched. This downtown landmark was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

	Today Colcord is remembered best by his title of "Oklahoma's First Citizen." On April 22, 1889, Colcord claimed Lot Number 1, Block Number 1 in what was to become Oklahoma City. Charles Francis Colcord was born in Kentucky (August 18, 1859 – December 10, 1934), also known as Charlie and even Chuck by some, was a successful rancher, U.S. Marshal, Chief of Police, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West. For much of his young childhood his father was away fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War. When he was 12, his family planned to move to New Orleans, so he ran away.
Taking his six-guns and his horse, he could ride, rope and shoot well enough to get a job as a cowpuncher on the Chisholm Trail, moving thousands of head of cattle from Texas through the Indian Territories to Abilene, Kansas, the nearest railhead, where they would be shipped back to the East Coast. He built up his own herds and his brand, the Jug livestock brand became famous throughout Kansas and Oklahoma. He then worked as a range detective, and gained a reputation as a lawman. The Jug livestock brand is now in the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
	His father, William R. Colcord was born 26 Nov 1827 in Kentucky and died in Oklahoma City on or about 10 Jan 1901 - burial at Fairlawn cemetery in OKC reported on 11 Jan 1901.
Charles Francis Colcord. Mr. Colcord was a successful and prominent cattle rancher, oil businessman, and early Oklahoma Territory lawman from Oklahoma City, who owned a large ranch west of town. The ranch employed many local residents, and was very important to the economy and spirit of the growing community. The Oklahoma land run was announced. On April 22, 1889 Charles made the run that day and traded his team, wagon and gear for a shack and lot. By the end of the excitement, a noisy tent city had sprung up, and Colcord was its leading citizen, with his lot becoming Lot Number 1, Block Number 1, Oklahoma City. Colcord also built the Commerce Exchange Building and the Biltmore Hotel. One of Oklahoma City's first large private homes was built by Colcord, starting neighborhoods that still stand today. Colcord's life encompassed the transition of Oklahoma City from a prairie with scattered teepees and herds of bison to a booming metropolis with skyscrapers, oil fields and interstate highways. On December 30, 1934, a resolution adopted by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce stated, "Affluence came to him but left unspoiled his native gentleness and simplicity. Always he was modest, humble, democratic, generous, just and kind. He remembered the less fortunate friends of his early days." As Oklahoma boomed he served as Chief of Police, then Oklahoma City's first Sheriff (essentially the army left what was a territory, declared it a state, and gave Charlie the stockade and a gun.) He later became a US Marshal (appointed by President Grover Cleveland), serving with Bill Tilghman. He worked hard to control a lawless, wild area, fighting Bill Doolin, Tulsa Jack, the Dalton Gang, Little Dick West, and others. He personally rounded up five members of the Dalton Gang and supervised their hanging.
When he died Oklahoma City named the Civic Center after him. His dedication to the city and his humble origins landed him in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Charles Francis Colcord died on December 10, 1934. His tombstone reads: "His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up — And say to all the world, 'This was a man'."

In the 1960s under the banner of urban renewal, the wrecking ball flattened the magnificent Colcord Mansion at 421 NW 13.

http://www.couryprop.com/otherProp_colcordHotel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Francis_Colcord
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/books/thoburn/bios3/colcord_charles.txt
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/books/thoburn/image/thoburn_1916_v3/colcord-charles-p1126.jpg
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p007.html (includes I photo not shown above)

Additional Reading

* Colcord, Charles Francis. The Autobiography of Charles Francis Colcord. C.C. Helmerich (privately printed), 1970. Library of Congress No. 73-140435.

* Cover title: Row-Colcord
The story of two towns: a history of Row-Colcord and the surrounding area. Colcord Historical Society in cooperation with Josten's, 1985-

Sources: fair use as stated above

Contributed by Marti Graham, August 2007. Information posted for educational purposes for viewers and researchers. The contributor is not related to nor researching any of the above.