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Guide To Oklahoma County Oklahoma Genealogy Part of the OKGenWeb Project | |||
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| Surname Index Updated: 08 Sep 2009 W.P. "Bill" Atkinson Newspaperman, real estate developer, homebuilder, historian, city founder, political candidate - all could be used to describe W.P. "Bill" Atkinson. His efforts to improve the quality of life in central Oklahoma left a lasting mark on the state. Atkinson moved from Texas to Oklahoma in 1928. The same year, he started a weekly newspaper, The Oklahoma City Star. He continued his journalistic career as a university professor, serving as the head of the journalism department at Oklahoma City University from 1934 to 1938, however he lost both races. Then, in the early 1940s, the Army announced it was looking for a place to build a new depot in the center of the country and made public a list of criteria for the base. It was intended to be the largest base ever built by the military, and there were only a few places it could be built. Quickly and quietly, he purchased thousands of acres north of SE 29th Street and began in 1942 to plat and design a self-contained city, which would provide homes, entertainment and shopping for Army personnel, as well as the civilian work force. Atkinson's city would become Midwest City and the depot, Tinker Air Force Base. Midwest City sprang from undeveloped land to a small city in one year, the product of the ingenuity and imagination of one man. W.P . " Bill " Atkinson was a member of a generation of giants. Midwest City was founded by W. P. "Bill" Atkinson in 1941, when he found out that an Air Depot (later to be named Tinker Field) would be built in the area of land that he had acquired. He bought and developed the original square mile of Midwest City in 1942. W.P. “Bill” Atkinson made a lot of money. He published a daily newspaper (The Oklahoma Journal) in the sixties and seventies and he even ran for governor twice 1958 and 1962. After meeting with Air Force officials he found that the Air Depot would be built South of Southeast 29th Street and that their feelings were that a complete town with shopping centers, schools and churches would be needed rather than just temporary housing. Mr. Atkinson then hired Steward Mott, a master land planner. The government required a spot about 10
miles from an urban center, at least 4 miles from any oil field, on a rail
line and a hard-surface road and inside a large span of flat land. Ten years later Midwest City was chosen "America's Model City." The Town of Midwest City was incorporated March 11, 1943 by the Board of County Commissioners. An election was held on January 4, 1943. Midwest City is located approximately 10 miles from downtown Oklahoma City, which is the largest city in Oklahoma. Also in the 1950s, the homebuilder was known for giving Shetland ponies to those who purchased his homes. As the 1940s began, the area remained primarily agricultural, much of it still owned by descendants of the original homesteaders. All that lay between Oklahoma City and Shawnee were the Log Cabin gas station and cafe on SE 29, Koelsch's Store at Reno and Sooner Road, and a small community called Marion, about where Carl Albert High School is today. In 1941 a world war loomed and the federal government was looking for land in the southwestern states on which to build an Army Air Corp. Rubye, his wife, started garden clubs and women's organizations, helping to impart a hometown atmosphere. Orphaned as a child, on his own at age 14, he spent a career creating homes for others and finally had the opportunity to build - literally - a city. He planned it, founded it, constructed it, sold it, nurtured it and had an affection for it as if it were a child. In 1959 he opened The Oklahoma Journal, whose slogan was "The Paper That Tells Both Sides." He had an offset press at SE 15th Street and Key in Midwest City, and he published the newspaper until 1980. Later in life, Atkinson had a hand in establishing Rose State College, and he donated land for the Midwest City Memorial Hospital. In the 1970s, he developed Quail Springs Mall and the surrounding area, despite delays caused by the oil bust of the following decade. He also developed a high-technology office park just west of the Quail Springs area. In 1985, Atkinson was presented with the University of Oklahoma's Distinguished Service Citation. Ten years later, he was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame. Throughout his life, Atkinson had a passion for history and established the Living Historical Center as a means to preserve the history of central Oklahoma. His collections of military memorabilia and newspapers now belong to the Rose State College Foundation, in addition to his private home and estate. Atkinson died in March 1999 at the age of 92. Years after his death, the Atkinson home
located at NE 10th and Midwest Blvd, Midwest City, Oklahoma County,
Oklahoma, is part of a unique gift to Rose State College. There was a time
when NE 10th and Midwest Blvd was way out in the country. It was so far out
in the country that Bill Atkinson built a cabin for weekend getaways.
He built the house at 1001
N Midwest Blvd. with a "build it and they will come" outlook. He never lived
in it, the crowds never came. The house has no past because its future never
happened. But today, it is the Bill Bill Atkinson and family donated his house and the grounds (built in 1955) for use as a conference and historical center. “And it's not just the history of W.P. "Bill" Atkinson. This is the history of Midwest City and Oklahoma County. The Atkinson Heritage Center.
Even the old appliances are still there along with mementos and keepsakes from a very public life. In business, Bill Atkinson always seemed a step ahead of history. It seems fitting his legacy would be a house that he built, and that he always seemed to know, would be his epitaph. Oklahoman Archives ATKINSON W.P. "Bill", age 92, of Midwest City, passed away March
20, 1999. He was born November 9, 1906 in Carthage, Texas to Paul Lee
Atkinson and Maggie Tiller Atkinson
Resources: MWC City page, http://www.midwestcityok.com/city.html accessed December 16, 2008 photo source: http://news.webshots.com/photo/1523329963029702685KJBfPH Oklahoman Archives, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,February 27, 2008
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The
old pony barn is still there. Bill used to give ponies away for every house
he sold. The big house he built in 1954 is virtually untouched, unchanged
since Architectural Digest did an article in the mid-fifties on his fine
country home.
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I hope you enjoy searching through our web site, as I've spent
considerable time on it. If you find other information on the web or elsewhere that might be appropriate for this page, please let me know. I'm am particularly interested journals or other records of movement into Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. | ||
| Site authored by Marti Graham, Coordinator Oklahoma County, Oklahoma part of the OKGenWeb Project |
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