Anton Classen helped shape development of Oklahoma City

Of all the turning points in Oklahoma history, one of the most significant is the Land Run of April 22, 1889 — the most recognizable connecting dot in the transition from public and communal land to privately owned property.

A more personal look at the land run reveals even more connecting dots of history through the life of Anton Classen.

Classen made the land run and settled first in Edmond, where he founded the town’s first newspaper, invested in the first generation of businesses, and donated 40 acres of land for the first territorial teachers’ college, today called the University of Central Oklahoma.

In 1898 he moved to Oklahoma City, which was on the cusp of becoming the nation’s fastest growing city from 1900 to 1910 and the capital of the new state. As he had done in Edmond, Classen invested his time and resources in a number of ventures.

He served as the first president of the reorganized Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, organized and raised funds for a German Methodist Church that is still standing today, and started buying land out in the country as far north as NW 16 Street.

Classen platted a new neighborhood on that land, but it was too far from the central city where walking was the only practical means of transportation. To solve that problem and add value to his land, he joined with several partners to seek a franchise for the first streetcar line in the territory. Not surprisingly, the tracks went north to the land he had bought for $100 an acre and he started selling lots for more than $1,000.

The neighborhood Classen created at the end of the streetcar tracks became Heritage Hills, the first and most pivotal historic preservation effort in the 1960s. Today, Heritage Hills offers proof that historic neighborhoods and buildings not only contribute to quality of life but also stimulate economic development.

Classen’s investment in land and streetcars also convinced the Methodist Conference to sponsor a new college in Oklahoma City called Epworth, which included a medical school. When Epworth folded, the State of Oklahoma assumed responsibility for the medical school and placed it near the newly located State Capitol. That first building at NE 13 and Lincoln was the beginning of the OU Health Sciences Center.

Anton Classen, ’89er and town builder, simultaneously connected the dots of economic development and the shape of Oklahoma City.

Bob Blackburn is executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Elizabeth Bass is the society’s director of publications and editor of The Chronicles of Oklahoma. They are Connecting the Dots of history to provide a better understanding of where we have been and where we are going as a community.