Stockyards and Packing Plants - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 27.173 W 097° 33.367
14S E 631031 N 3924225
Coordinates given are at the large overhead entrance gate which crosses Exchange Avenue, where it enters the stockyards area.
Waymark Code: WMF73M
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 09/03/2012
Views: 4
STOCKYARDS AND PACKING PLANTS (conducted tours 10:30-1:30 daily except Sat. and Mon.), Exchange and Agnew Aves., is one of the
largest livestock centers in the Southwest. Armour and Company and Wilson and Company have plants here. The morning is generally the best time to visit the plants as most of the butchering is done at this time. Visitors are permitted to see every phase of the packing industry, from sheep being led to the killing pens by a goat, with
no other duties than to encourage them to follow his nonchalant lead, to the canning of eggs in five-gallon lots for the baking trade. The two packing plants were located at Oklahoma City in 1910 on payment of bonuses by businessmen; the stockyards came as a natural adjunct
to these plants. Prior to the development of the city's oil fields, the packing industry was the city's largest employer of labor. Approximately 1,000,000 head of livestock, aside from horses and mules, pass through the stockyards each year. A Guide to the Sooner State, 1941.
The above was written thirty years after this area became a booming meat packing and stockyards operation. Today, 102 years from its beginnings, it still thrives. Stockyards City was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Although the meat packing plants are no longer in operation, the cattle auction industry still thrives - the largest stocker and feeder cattle market in the world.
The large brick two-story Armour Packing Co. building still stands. It is a luxury residential property currently for sale. It has 9600 sq. ft. of space and an asking price of $950,000. This website shows beautiful interior photos of this property. http://hotpads.com/real-estate/2400-N-Exchange-Avenue-Oklahoma-City-OK-73108--3szmg12wpfzsm#lat=35.45229&lon=-97.555881&zoom=20&previewId=3szmg12wpfzsm&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&dupeGrouping=building&listingTypes=sale,newHome,foreclosure,auction&pricingFrequency=once&loan=30,0.04,0&resultsPerQuad=24
The stockyards area on the north side of Exchange Avenue is operated by Oklahoma Stockyards Co. A large brick auction house stands in an area totally surrounded by cattle pens. An average of 10,000 head of cattle are brought here by truck each weekend. Stocker and feeder cattle are auctioned off on Mondays and cows and bulls on Tuesday.
The business district to the east of the stockyards operates out of vintage buildings constructed in 1911. Several business operating today have been here since the beginning in 1910, including Cattlemen's Steakhouse and Exchange Pharmacy. This is definitely a place to see and enjoy. The Western atmosphere remains in full force.
This website gives much of the history of this wonderful place. http://www.stockyardscity.org/history-and-photos