Laverne's North Main Street District - Laverne, OK - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

County of town: Harper County
Location of town: SW corner of county, crossroads of US-283 & OK-149
Location of old post office: 108 W Jane Jayroe Blvd (formerly Main Street), Laverne
Elevation: 2,110 ft (643 m)
Population: 1,389 (2013)

"Laverne's North Main Street District consists of ten buildings grouped together in the block on the north side of Main Street and west from Broadway. Both streets serve as highways in the county and these structures form a major part of the current business district in Laverne. The structures use a variety of materials, such as wood siding, red brick and concrete blocks that were easily hauled to the site of the town by railroad. The town was established in late 1912 and by 1913; six of these structures were built; the other four were added between 1916 and 1918, as the town became a viable commercial center for the surrounding agricultural area. Partly due to the fact that the town has maintained a fixed population base as a small rural community, most of the structures still retain their original design, with only a few attempts to rejuvenate facades or street level entries. The structures range in size from one to two stories, originally providing the town with a cafe, drug store, meat market, theatre, bank, post office, grocery store, clothing shop, general merchandise store, variety store, and doctors office.

"The visual unity of the district lies in the consistency of scale and materials, the equal size lots, the compact and uniform set backs from the street, the repetition of design elements (false fronts, simple friezes, recessed entries, and display windows, clearstories and doors with transoms) as well as the functional and austere appearance in the styling. The district is bounded on the east by the intersection of the two major streets in Laverne, on the back by an alley and on the west by two low-profile modern red brick businesses next to Oklahoma Avenue. The district's remaining historic commercial structures in town that retain their historical integrity and form the core of what was the original business district, the block from Broadway to Oklahoma on Main. The south side of the street was destroyed in a storm several years ago. The two newer buildings at the intersection of Main and Oklahoma have not been included, because historically, the intersection bordered on to the district's boundaries and only recently Oklahoma Avenue has been narrowed to allow for more construction along Main Street. The cohesion in this group of buildings accurately reflects the quick emergence of the community after the construction of the railroad." ~ NRHP Nomination Form