National Register Record for AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT (BOUNDARY INCREASE)

Historic Name: AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT (BOUNDARY INCREASE)
Current Name: SAME
Address: NORTH SIDE OF 000 BLOCK OF NORTHWEST 6TH STREET
City: OKLAHOMA CITY            County: OKLAHOMA
Section: 33           Township: 12N           Range: 3W          
Description of significance: THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT WAS LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ON MARCH 18, 1999 (NRIS #99000351) UNDER CRITERION A FOR ITS COMMERCIAL SIGNIFICANCE AS OKLAHOMA CITY’S AUTOMOBILE RETAILING CENTER DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE BOUNDARY INCREASE AREA ALLOWS FOR INCLUSION OF A KEY RESOURCE THAT TANGIBLY LINKED THE CAR DEALERS TO THE AUTO MANUFACTURERS DURING THE PERIOD. ERECTED IN 1926 FOR THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY, 1 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET (ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED AS 7 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET) SERVED AS THE STATE AND REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION POINT FOR THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY UNTIL 1954. THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT WAS ALSO LISTED UNDER CRITERION C AS AN ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION OF ONE- AND TWO-STORY COMMERCIAL STYLE BUILDINGS RELATED TO THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. AS STATED ON PAGE 22 OF THE 1998 REGISTRATION FORM, “OVER HALF THE BUILDINGS IN THE DISTRICT ARE OF THE COMMERCIAL STYLE (SIC), USUALLY ONE- OR TWO-STORY BRICK STOREFRONTS FLUSH WITH THE SIDEWALK; A FEW BUILDINGS ARE TALLER.” THE CONTRIBUTING BUILDING IN THE BOUNDARY INCREASE AREA IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE LARGER COMMERCIAL STYLE BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN THE AREA DURING THE PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE. EXTENDING THE BOUNDARY EAST OF NORTH BROADWAY AVENUE ALL THE WAY TO THE SANTA FE’S ELEVATED TRACK ALSO ALLOWS THE AUTOMOBILE ALLEY HISTORIC DISTRICT TO REFLECT THE IMPACT THAT ELEVATING THE TRACK IN THE EARLY 1930S HAD ON THE AREA, SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE PHYSICAL AND VISUAL SEPARATION BETWEEN THE HISTORIC AUTOMOBILE RETAILING AREA AND THE INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSE AREA TO THE EAST. IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE RAILROAD AND CONSTRUCTED PRIOR TO THE ELEVATION OF THE TRACK, THE CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY WAS THE FOCUS OF A LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY ITS OWNER TO COLLECT DAMAGES FROM THE SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY AND THE CITY OF OKLAHOMA CITY RELATED TO CONSTRUCTION OF THE ELEVATED TRACK. LISTED 06/04/2021.

Type: DISTRICT
Historic Function: COMMERCE/TRADE: WAREHOUSE
Current Function: COMMERCE/TRADE: SPECIALTY STORE
Area of Significance 1: COMMERCE
Area of Significance 2: ARCHITECTURE
Architectural Style: 20TH CENTURY COMMERCIAL
Architect: None
Year Built: 1926; 1958; 1999            Original Site: YES
Condition: GOOD
Restricted: None
Documentation Source: None
Date Prepared: 2020