Joseph Foucart’s talents are reflected in many significant structures in Guthrie. In addition to commercial builds, Foucart’s talents were also in demand for residential design and construction. The two brick private residences in Guthrie, Oklahoma are The Heilman house at Cleveland and Ash and the Miller home on East Warner Street. They are two beautiful treasures and were two of the first brick homes in Oklahoma Territory. The two houses still stand today and are fully functioning. Though they have been remodeled several times they have kept the spirit and heart the Foucart once desired in them.

Intersection of Ash and Cleveland Streets, Guthrie, Oklahoma

Intersection of Maple Street and Warner Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma

They called it the castle on the hill…

In the late 1800s, the businessmen and citizens of Alva could not see the wrap their heads around sending their children to Edmond for “Normal”schooling, so they began a crusade for the establishment of an institution of higher education in the northwest part of Oklahoma Territory. On Sept. 20, 1897, the Northwestern Territorial Normal School opened with an enrollment of 58 students. Classes were held in the Congregational Church and later the Baptist Church.

And that’s where Joseph Foucart comes in…

As attendance and faculty increased, there was a need for a permanent home for the normal school. “The Castle on the Hill” was then built and was dedicated in 1898. The cost was set originally at $86,018 but was increased to $110,000 before the project was completed. It was said to be one of the largest and most beautiful normal school buildings west of the Mississippi River. The “Castle” burned March 1, 1935.

Joseph Pierre Foucart is most famous for his buildings in Guthrie Oklahoma and the Victor Block is no exception. The Victor block was built in 1893 and still stands proudly today. The Architecture style of the block is Richardsonian Romanesque. Most of the buildings that were designed by Foucart were similar to this style. Deep the Guthrie Historic District the building is a site for many people how visit the town. The town of Guthrie is also very protective of these buildings. I think it’s cool to see a town persevere such historic artifacts that were built before they were even thought of.

One of the buildings that was designed by Joseph is the State Capital Publishing Company Building. The ground breaking for the building started in 1902 in Guthrie Oklahoma. The Building is a four story structure that was built to replace the old building that burned to the ground. The building and was finished the same year that is built. The building housed the first newspaper published in the Oklahoma Territory, the State Capitol grew into the largest printing house west of the Mississippi River. In 1975, the building was acquired by the Oklahoma Historical Society, who had plans to outfit it as a publishing museum. The State Capital Publishing Museum opened in 1983. In the 1990s and again in the 2000s, budget cuts led to the trimming of staff and programs at the museum, and unexpected building maintenance problems in 2012 led to a decision to close the museum indefinitely. As of 2016, the museum has remained closed since 2012.

For my last 6 blogs I will be looking at the work of Joseph Pierre Foucart. Foucart lived from 1848-1917 and was a prominent architect during the opening of the Oklahoma territory. It is said that the skyline of Guthrie Oklahoma is dominated by buildings that he designed. Foucart was originally from Arlon Belgium. He studied at the royal Athenaeum in Arlon. After graduating in 1865 he worked as a civil engineer and served in the French as army. His job included overseeing construction of castles in Belgium.

Joseph Moved to the United States in 1888 in settled land a little before the land rush. Most of his designs were influenced by Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Some of building he designed include the Bonfils Building, DeFord Building, Gaffney Building, Gray Brother’s Building, State Capital Publishing Company Building, Victor Block and the Foucart Building. He also designed the First National Bank and Trust Company in Perry, Oklahoma, the “Castle on the plains” at the Northwestern State Normal School in Alva and the Williams Hall library at Oklahoma State University.

This is a picture of my house in Lawton, Ok.  Also, this picture is in fact from goggle maps becuase although I love this house I have zero pictures of it. I have so many memories here! I lived in this house from the time that I was born until I went off to college. I love this house it is a place that I know I can come and be myself. I Know that when I walk into the doors I will be greeted with love and the smell of fresh baked treats. It’s a place  that  I can go to when want to hide from the rest of the world. Although I’m not sure who the architect was I know it was built in the 80’s and my family was the second family to ever live in the house

Chseapeake Energy Arena or should I say home to the Oklahoma City Thunder. I have a very strong connection with this arena because it was the first place I watched a live NBA game. I remember it like it was yesterday. The day was April 4th of  2013 and we  were playing  the San Antonio Spurs. The final score of the game ended up being 55- 20. It took us a while to get started but after we got  going there was no stopping us at all. One of the greatest experiences of my life. The

The groundbreaking for Chesapeake began in 1999 and doors opened for the first time in 2002. The Architects on the  project were the Benham Companies and Sink Combs Dethlefs. The price came in at about 90 million. As a building the thunderdome can seat up to 20,000 depending on the event the arena is being used for.

Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center is a building with a lot of rich history. Named after a former student and athlete who embodied what it means to be cultured student. While I’m not sure who the architect was or what year the building was constructed, I do know it is the building that helped me find my home here at OU. As a junior in high school I came to a conference at out called HSLC and most of our main session were in Jim Thorpe.

At this conference I was able to connect with high school juniors and college student who all had the same mindset that I did. It was incredible. Still to this day I feel like I have that connection With Jim Thorpe that started almost 6 years ago. Ask any student where JTMC is and they will most likely be able to tell you because the building has so much significance that almost every OU student has been there at least once. I know that I feel like I am there more than I am at home.

The Bizzell or should I say my second home? Before attending college going to the library was a myth for me. Something people only did in movies because they had detention. When I use to think of libraries I thought of complete silence and very little interaction with other people. I thought little mean old ladies with glasses resting on their noses waling around with yardsticks telling people to stop talking. In other worlds I thought that libraries were boring and my last positive thoughts about them were from elementary when you would go and the librarian would give you candy and read to the class.

That all changed when I got to OU and realized I had no Idea how to study and that the people that did know how to study went to the library. After going to the library a couple of times I realized that it actually wasn’t that bad and it was more social than I had thought. The Bizzell Library is one of a series of building on OU’s campus that is Cherokee Gothic. It was designed by the architecture firm Layton Hicks & Forsyth and constructed in 1928 during the administration of OU’s fifth president, William Bennett Bizzell, from whom it gets it name.

For my second blog I decided to do the September 11 Memorial Museum. The date of September 11th is a day that stick out in the minds of american all around the word. If you asked anyone what they were doing on that day they would be able to tell like it was yesterday. It’s a day with extreme significance because it is a day that the world changed forever. The way we think, act, travel and socialize with other was all changed that day. We now have a master piece to help us remember that day for centuries to come. The September 11 Memorial Museum honors those who lost their lives that day. It gives the family of those a little comfort knowing that their family members life was not in vain but will be apart of American history forever. I personally love the memorial because both my parent were in the military and have both fought for our freedom since the day of 9/11. There were several architects on this project but they were split up into two groups, the memorial group and the museum group. The memorial group was headed up by Michael Arad and Peter walker and the museum was headed up by David brody Bond and Snohetta. They Started construction in March 2006 and the Museum opened on September 11, 2011