National Register Listing

Anadarko Downtown Historic District

a.k.a. Anadarko Central Business Historic District

Roughly bounded by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad, E. 2nd and W. 3rd Sts., Anadarko, OK

Anadarko's name is a variation on the name of a band of Caddo Indians, the "Na-Da-Ko". It was originally named on April 22, 1873, when application was made for a Post Office in the area to serve the Wichita Indian Agency, (established in 1859 to fulfill peace treaty requirements following the movement of several tribes, chiefly the Wichita, Caddo and Delaware, to the area). Early-day commerce in the area centered around William Shirley's Trading Post on the north side of the Washita River, which served the local Indian population, Wichita Agency employees and the military garrison assigned to the area because of the Agency. Many Wichita Agency employees built their homes across the River to the south, in an area which became know as "Old Town" (most of these residences were later moved into the residential neighborhood to the east of the Central Business District). In August of 1901, the City of Anadarko was officially opened and lots auctioned off to builders from throughout the Territory. The City started off as a "tent city'', but quickly gained more permanent structures; the structures in the Central Business Historic District date from this beginning. The Anadarko CBD represents a relatively well-preserved CBD core area in Oklahoma, with good examples of turn-of-the-century commercial architecture. The District is strongly linked to the historical and ethnic heritage of the area through its architecture and economic functions. Downtown structures exhibit strong physical influences and relationships to religion, Western and Native American Art, Indian commerce and the early settlement patterns of the area. The railroad linkage to the CBD is strongly exhibited in the C.R.I.&P. Depot (a part of the Historic District) and the orientation of the northern tier of businesses in the District to the railroad tracks. Over the years, numerous individuals have contributed to the history, tradition and development of the District, including a number of prominent Indians, well-known Indian artists (the "5 Kiowa" Artists), William Jennings Bryan, the Skaggs Brothers (Safeway Chain founders), J. J. Methvin (early missionary who introduced the Methodist Church into Southwest Oklahoma), artist Frederic Remington and Jesse Chisholm. The Anadarko CBD was the location of the first Masonic Lodge Hall in Oklahoma (built in 1885, moved in 1902, and destroyed in 1979), the location of the first food store opened by the Skaggs Brothers (1925) before they founded the Safeway Chain, and the location of the first dealer-owned Otasco Store in Oklahoma (1944). Overall, the CBD presents a strong combination of a number of significant elements in related areas within one commercial district.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1990.