History
Main article: History of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City was settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the "unassigned lands" was opened for settlement in an event called "The Oklahoma Land Run". Some 10,000 homesteaders settled what is now downtown Oklahoma City, creating a tent city in a single day. Within 10 years the population had doubled in what became a permanent settlement and the future capital of Oklahoma.
By the time Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, Oklahoma City had already supplanted Guthrie, the territorial capital, as the population center and commercial hub of the new state. Soon after, the capital was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City was a major stop on Route 66 during the early part of the 20th century and was prominently mentioned in Bobby Troup's 1946 jazz classic, "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," later made famous by Nat King Cole. Pre-World War II activity saw Oklahoma City's development into a major stockyard location and, with the discovery of oil within the city limits (including under the State Capitol), a center of oil production.[citation needed] Post-war growth occurred with Oklahoma City's location as a major interchange on the Interstate Highway System, with the convergence of I-35, I-40 and I-44 in the city, and the development of Tinker Air Force Base. The 1970s and 80's witnessed a gradual decline in the inner-city, as families increasingly chose to live in nearby suburbs. Urban Renewal projects in the 1970s removed many older historic structures but failed to result in much additional development.[citation needed] A notable exception was the construction of the Myriad Gardens and Crystal Bridge, a botancial garden and modernistic conservatory in the heart of the city.
In 1993, the city passed a massive redevelopment package known as the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS), which succeeded in helping to rebuild the city's core, adding a new baseball park, central library, renovations to the civic center, convention center and fairgrounds, and a canal to the Bricktown entertainment district. In recent years more housing has been developed downtown, creating new opportunities for developers. However, this has also raised some potential problems, such as an increased need for grocery stores and similar retail. The "Core-to-Shore" project was created to relocate I-40 one mile south and replace it with a boulevard that will set as an entrance.[citation needed] This allows the central portion of the city to expand south toward the Oklahoma River, thus connecting the core of the city to the shore of the Oklahoma River.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
