The Active Historian

Hey, Friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show you the cupola of the historic Baum Building that I stumbled across at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City. Let’s get started!

Historic Marker Transcription

“The Baum Building was often referred to as the “Palace on the Prairie” when it opened in 1914 at the southwest corner of Robinson and Sheridan Avenues. An attempt was made to move the landmark when it was targeted for demolition in 1973 by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. Each corner of the top of the building was adorned with ornate stone cupolas, one of which is on display here. The Baum Building was fashioned after the Doge Palace in Venice, Italy and designed by legendary architect Solomon Andrew Layton. Construction of the building began in 1911 and was built by early day merchant Moses J. Baum who opened a dry goods and luxury women’s clothing store. The building was built on land owned by city father Henry Overholser, who frequently partnered in business ventures with C.G. Jones. The Baum Building is representative of the growth and ambition taking place in Oklahoma City when Jones was at the peak of his career as a civic and business leader.”

Oklahoma City-County Historical Society

History of the Baum Building

Naturally, after finding this historic cupola I wanted to know more so I did some digging on the history of the building and the man who built it, M.J. Baum.

Baum moved to Oklahoma City in 1897 when he was eighteen years old. He opened the store for women’s clothing. It appears to have been the largest retailer for women’s clothing at the time. This building was modeled after the ornate Doge Palace in Venice, Italy. This five story building cost $140,000 to build and was designed by Layton, Hawk and Smith architectural firm. The lease for the building was located at Sheridan and Robinson in Oklahoma City.

Baum’s store was very successful for a few years occupying floors one through three. Many ads were run in the local newspapers advertising different types of goods being sold.

The Fidelity National Bank was housed in this building from 1926-1955.

Sadly, the Baum Building was demolished in the 1970s for OKC’s urban renewal plans. Pieces of the building were saved and can be seen in various places around the city.

Historic Photos

I did a quick search to see if I could find any images of the historic Baum Building. I was super excited to the see The Gateway to Oklahoma History (Oklahoma Historical Society) and the Metropolitan Library System both had images in their archives. I’ve included a few of the photos below with their image ID’s in case you want to do more research yourself!

The image below is a postcard of the historic Baum Building taken in November 1913. The back of the postcard had a note on it and you can look at it on the Metropolitan Library System’s website.

The photo below was taken by John Gumm. A date for the photograph was not listed in the archive. I really liked this image because you can see the cupola on the corner very clearly.

This photo was taken in 1950 by the Meyers Photo Shop.

Visit

To see the cupola in the photo at the top of the post visit the State Fair Park in OKC. The address is below!

3001 General Pershing Blvd.

Oklahoma City, OK 73107

*I have not attempted to look for any of the other pieces of this building that are scattered around OKC, but there are more according to an article I read while doing research.

Sources

Historic Marker.

Images

Meyers Photo Shop. Baum Building, photograph, October 1950;(https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1118576/m1/1/), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; Oklahoma Historical Society.

Photos by Gumm (John Gumm). Baum Building, photograph, Date Unknown;(https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1595457/m1/1/), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; Oklahoma Historical Society.

“Baum Building, Oklahoma City, Okla.” John Dunning III Collection. November 17, 1913. (Image ID: DUN.2017.07.01.129). Courtesy of Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County.

Websites

Mary Phillips. “The Archivist: A different look at the Baum Building.” The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), May 12, 2014.

M.J. Alexander. “Lost OKC.” 405 Magazine (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), November 24, 2015.