Miller Historic District - Norman, OK
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The Snowdog
N 35° 13.126 W 097° 26.382
14S E 642005 N 3898419
A historical marker describing the Miller Historic District, in June Benson Park, Norman, Oklahoma.
Waymark Code: WM104ZA
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/27/2019
Views: 1
This historical marker is located in June Benson Park in Norman, Oklahoma, and describes the Miller Historic District.
The full text of the marker, front and back, is:
MILLER HISTORIC DISTRICT
"This would be an ideal place for a home."
1903 Newspaper advertisement
At the opening of the twentieth century, Norman, barley a decade old, was a bustling community. Its population had surpassed the 2000 mark, telephone service was becoming commonplace, and the horseless carriage had been demonstrated to amazed audiences. orman's citizens were ready to embrace the coming age of electricity, automobiles, and Oklahoma Statehood.
In 1903, George W. Miller of Norman and Anton H. Classen of Oklahoma City introduced the "Classen-Miller Addition" to caapitalize on Norman's growty. Mr. Miller, who owned a hardware store on Main Street, enlisted Mr. Classen to help develop the family's farm and wheat field into a Norman housing addition.
The area was publicized as offering "some of the finest residential lots in the city" with "beautiful boulevards, fine trees, and parks." Construction began soon after the addition opened. The building sites were advertised in the local newspaper as ranging in price from thirty to seventy-five dollars. Convenient to the downtown business district, the Santa Fe Depot, and the University of Oklahoma, the neighborhood was promoted as a desirable location for business leaders and University faculty alike. Norman's growth following World War I and the subsequent re-plat of the addition in 1992 ensured development well into the 1030's.
(Continued)
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION, CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA 2000
MILLER HISTORIC DISTRICT
This neighborhood, developed by George W. Miller and Anton H. Classen, introduced several new streets to the Norman map. The main thoroughfares, Classen Boulevard, and Miller Avenue, bear the names of the developers. Mr. Miller's wife, Martha, named several streets after her children (Keith, Ferrill, and Emelyn), and her children's playmates (Alameda and Macy).
Streets in the original Norman townsite were laid either parallel with, or perpendicular to, the railroad tracks. For this reason, Miller Avenue does not run north to south, but instead northwest to southwest. Later development adopnted the"Jeffersonian grid" in which streets were laid straight with the compass. The location of the Classen-Miller Addition at the intersection of the two systems gives the neighborhood a distinctive "pie-shaped" appearance on maps.
Included among the various architectural styles in the neighborhood are Craftsman Style bungalows, Prairie Style four-squares, Tudor and Colonial Revival style homes. A common architectural feature is the "porte-cocher" literally "coach door," a precursor for today's attached garage. The presence of the porte-cochere helps to identify the age of the neighborhood.
IN 1993 the Norman City Council adopted the Historic District Ordinance to help preserve local history and historic landmarks. In 1997, the central part of the Classen-Miller Addition was designated as the "Miller Historic District." The boundaries of the district are, roughly, Symmes Street to the north, Classen Boulevard to the east, and Miller Avenue to the west.
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HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION, CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA 2000
County: Cleveland
Record Address::
209 E, Alameda Street
Norman, OK United States
73069
Web site if available: [Web Link]
Rate the Site: 
Date Erected: 2000
Sponsor (Who put it there): Historic District Commission, Norman, Oklahoma
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