Last week we took a tour of the tunnels in downtown Tulsa. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it was but the tour was interesting and we enjoyed it. We met our tour guide at the Hyatt Regency and began the walk under the city. The tunnels are used by many people to get to offices, restaurants, pick up mail and get from place to place without going outside. There is a vault under the Bank of Oklahoma building. Sadly I wasn’t able to take pictures as they weren’t allowed. The vault was brought from the train station by temporary train tracks and the building built around it. It is still used today for safe deposit boxes. We also traveled down a short escalator to get there and it was the first escalator in the state. It was such a big deal that people lined up around the street to have a chance to ride it. It opened in October 1949. “The newspaper actually published instructions: “Grasp the moving handrail, step onto the moving step and stand still.” The original escalator was replaced in 1960 when the building was renovated.
We were expecting tunnels that weren’t used, at least I was. There was only one tunnel that was used by kkkkkkkk to cross under the street. Back in the hey day of oil strikes, it was feared that oil barons would be kidnapped and even perhaps their families. So, kkkkk had a tunnel hand dug from the building where he lived to the building where he worked. It is no longer used but we were able to go inside, just not exit on the other side because it is locked.
There is history to read on the walls and we were given a glimpse of those things. You don’t have to take the tour, you can go on your own, but I don’t think I would have known where to go.
There was stained glass in one of the buildings of the Tulsa skyline. It was amazing to look at.
The buildings were art deco and I have heard that Tulsa has many art deco buildings. There is a tour to explore the art deco of the area as well. This space below allowed smoking for many, many years. When it was originally built the ceiling was white. They tried to clean it but it took so much work they abandoned that idea and left it as it was.
We did see an art installment in one of the buildings. There is another one in the Denver airport. I don’t know if that one has a name but our guide named this one Chase because it sits in front of the Chase bank office. Someone asked if the other one was named Morgan.
If you’re in Tulsa and want a quick tour, 90 minutes, this is a good one. I highly recommend it.
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