History of Putnam Heights
“Special attention is called to our most popular addition, Putnam Heights. To reach this area, take a University car to Putnam Heights or a Belle Isle car to 38th Street. Pay five cents only. Putnam Heights is located within the five cent fare district.”
-Advertisement in The Daily Oklahoman, 1907
The year following the running of this ad, the area was included within the city limits and developed quickly under the guidance of Israel M. Putnam. The original owners of homes in this addition became household words in the history of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City.
Israel M. Putnam, for whom the Putnam Heights area is named, came to Oklahoma City in 1901and became the law partner of Judge Sam Hooker. Putnam soon realized the wonderful possibilities in real estate in the fast-growing city. In 1902 he left the law practice to organize the Putnam Company. Mr. Putnam built and lived in home at 1425 NW 37 Street. As a state representative, I.M. Putnam introduced the resolution on February 11, 1908, to move the state legislative and administrative offices from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Charles West, the state’s first attorney general, selected the corner lot at 1440 NW 37 Street for his home. The two-story house located at 1417 NW 38th was designed by architect James W.Hawk and built in 1910 for Judge and Mrs. Mont Highley. Highley was an assistant state attorney general in 1907 under Charles West. The house was sold in 1934 to Judge and Mrs. Paul Gladstone Darrough. Mrs. Darrough lived in the house until her death at age 98 in 1997.The home at 3605 N. McKinley was built by architect Harry Reynolds for Allen Street in 1926.Street, a longtime funeral home proprietor, served five terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and as mayor of Oklahoma City from 1947 to 1959.Also designed by Reynolds, the house at 1515 NW 35th Street was originally the home of Dr.Ray M. Balyeat, founder and director of the Balyeat Hay Fever and Asthma Clinic, and one of only 15 allergy specialists in the country in the 1930s.Noted Oklahoma City real estate developer and founder of the trolley system, Antoine Classen, built the homes at 1424 and 1428 NW 35th Street.
Dr. Everett Lain, a noted dermatologist who served on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma Medical School, built the house at 1422 NW 36th in 1921. In 1928, Judge Edgar S. Vaught purchased the house. President Calvin Coolidge appointed him as Federal judge of the Western District of Oklahoma in 1928. Judge Vaught presided over the 1933 trial of George “Machine Gun” Kelly and his gang, who kidnapped Oklahoma City oilman Charles Urshell. The mission style home at 3615 N. McKinley was built in 1911 for George H. Rummell. In1919, the house was purchased by newly elected Governor J.B.A. Robertson and served as the official Governor’s Mansion for the next four years.
The tradition of leaders from Putnam Heights was continued with Governor David Walters, who lived at 3825 N. McKinley when he was elected in 1990; Bob Anthony, a longtime Putnam Heights resident who served on the Oklahoma City Council and has served on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission since 1988; the Honorable Valerie Couch who served as a United States Magistrate and is past dean of the OCU Law School; and Rep. Debbie Blackburn who served in the Oklahoma Legislature for 12 years.
More than a dozen prominent architects have left their mark on the Putnam Heights addition. Most of them at one time built or owned homes in the area. The house at 1441 NW 35th Street was built by Solomon Layton who designed the State Capitol. Architect Guy C. Reid built his home at 1528 NW 36th Street. Reid, one of Oklahoma’s leading architects, designed the courthouse at Wewoka, the Henry G. Bennett Hall at Oklahoma State University, the Oklahoma City-County Main Library and the Gold Star Memorial Library at Oklahoma City University. In addition to Reynolds, Layton, Reid and Hawk, architects include Harold Gimeno, George Forsythe, Charles Monnot, Jack Graves, W.W. Frankfurt, Jens Holmboe and Victor Noftsger. Builders include G.A. Nichols, Lee Bradway, Raybourne Smiser and Lawrence Holmboe. A diversity of architectural styles is found in the 104 homes in the Putnam Heights neighborhood, including English Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Tudor, Mission, Classical Revival, Prairie and Craftsman.
The Oklahoma City Planning Commission, the Historic Preservation and Landmark Commission and the Oklahoma City Council granted historic preservation district status to Putnam Heights in September 1972. The Putnam Heights Preservation Area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 1, 1982.
Putnam Heights Preservation Area, Inc., (the neighborhood association) was incorporated in1972 for the purpose of supporting the Putnam Heights Historic Preservation District. For the past 35 years the neighborhood association has fostered activities and improvement projects, including planting beds in the medians and brick neighborhood entrance markers. In 2000 the association planted several trees and shrubs with a grant from the Margaret Annis Boys Fund and installed historic-style street lighting throughout the district, funded by grants from the City and contributions by Putnam Heights residents. Continuing its commitment to beautification, in 2002the association secured a second substantial grant from the Margaret Annis Boys Fund and planted more than 50 trees. A significant streetscaping project to calm traffic and enhance beautification efforts was completed in 2003.
In December 2004 Putnam Heights received a grant from Oklahoma City/Neighborhood Matching Grant Program. This grant provided for the planting of 20,000 daffodils by neighborhood volunteers on the 35th Street median. The grant also included a landscape design for the island/median at 35th and McKinley. January 2007 brought another Oklahoma City/Neighborhood Matching grant and a grant from the Margaret Annis Boys Fund for the continuation of tree planting and the daffodil project north on the McKinley medians. Grants in2021 and 2022 provided additional daffodil plantings and 22 new trees. In 1999 Putnam Heights Preservation Area partnered with Putnam Heights Elementary School to receive a Clean and Beautiful Schools grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
Fifteen trees were planted around the school. The partnership inspired the installation of a brick marker with planters that was designed by Warren Edwards, a Putnam Heights Elementary alumnus.
Putnam Heights enjoys the support of the Anderson Family Endowment, established in 2000through a bequest by Guyton Anderson, III. Dr. Anderson willed his home on 35th Street, occupied by the Anderson family for over 50 years, to be sold and the proceeds used to set up the endowment through the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. The Putnam Heights Preservation District is defined geographically as NW 35th Street(inclusive) on the south, NW 38th Street (inclusive) on the north, east side of Georgia and Blackwelder on the west and Classen (excluding structures facing Classen) on the east. Putnam Heights residents have a history of preservation activism and service. Warren Edwards served on the Historic Preservation and Landmark Commission for nearly three decades. Dr. Joe Couch served on the Commission from 2002 - 2006 and Karen Nelson served on the Commission from 2006 - 2013.Each homeowner accepts responsibility for preserving our Putnam Heights heritage and for upholding the landmark qualities that make our neighborhood one the finest, most historic regions in Oklahoma City.