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| Fun City Facts Boeing's final assembly plant, the world's largest building, is located in Everett, Washington. The Space Needle, built in 1961 in Seattle, Washington is the first revolving restaurant.  |
    
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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
City History |
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| Oklahoma City was first settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the "unassigned lands" was opened for settlement in an event known as "The Land Run". Some 10,000 homesteaders settled the area now known as Oklahoma City, and within 10 years the population had doubled. By the time Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, Oklahoma City was the population center and commercial hub of the new state. Thanks to political and commercial savvy of such early city leaders Oklahoma City had become an attractive Victorian city with an efficient trolley system, a major regional commercial center, a railway hub and had attracted several large meat packing plants too. The city, now with a population of 64,000, put in a petition to become the new state capital. A popular vote was held which Oklahoma City won. The capitol was long known for its lack of a dome, which could not be added by the time the building was completed in 1919 due to lack of funds. A dome was finally added to the building in 2002. The new city continued to grow at a steady rate until December 4, 1928, when oil was discovered in the city. Oil wells popped up everywhere, even on the south lawn of the capitol building, and the sudden influx of oil money within the city and throughout the state greatly accelerated the city's growth. In the 1960s Oklahoma City began to decline. By 1970, "white flight" and suburbanization had drained the life from the central business district and the surrounding areas. The oil beneath the city had begun to dry up, and property values declined. By 1992, the city was in such dire need of improvement that it was losing jobs, population, and even air carriers to more attractive cities. With this in mind capitol improvements throughout Downtown called the Metropolitan Area Projects 'MAPS' called for a five-year, one-cent sales tax to fund a new ballpark, a canal through Bricktown, a new central library, a large indoor arena, renovations to the fairgrounds and the civic center, and a series of low water dams on the North Canadian River to make it attractive and accessible to small boats. Though still stinging from the failure of "urban renewal", the people of Oklahoma City passed the measure. Dell call center brought over 250 jobs, and plans to employ over 19,000 more jobs in the future. 2005 brought Oklahoma their first major league Basketball franchise, the OKC/New Orleans Hornets. Many other corporations are finding OKC their home and the population is once again increasing at a very high rate. |
Historic Figures
Gordon Cooper (1927 –2004)| Gordon Cooper (1927 –2004) | |
| Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, Jr. was an American astronaut. He was one of the original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned-space effort by the United States. During his life, Cooper received numerous awards, including the Air Force Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf clusters, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Collier Trophy, the Harmon Trophy, the DeMolay Legion of Honor, the John F. Kennedy Trophy, the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, the University of Hawaii Regents Medal, and the Columbus Medal. He was a Master Mason and a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason. | |
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