Tulsa's Architectural Gems Subject Of Unique Tour

Many of downtown Tulsa's buildings have incredible architectural histories, and Friday, a Tulsa Trolley Tour took folks through parts of downtown to see them, while also taking them back in time.

People with a thirst for history - as well as good wine - loaded up on trolleys Friday to take a unique kind of Tulsa tour.

Girouard Vines - an urban bottler of wines with some of Tulsa's historic buildings on the labels - teamed up with the Tulsa Foundation of Architecture for the trolley tours.

Ted Reeds with the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture said, "Through the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, that's one of our missions is to get out and spread the good word if you will. We have many jewels in this city, let's celebrate them."

The group stopped at a number of buildings constructed by the WPA during the great depression.

"To get out of it, the government put people to work," Reeds said.

Those buildings contribute to Tulsa's rich architectural history.

Girouard Vines features eight of those architectural gems on its wine labels.

"We help them do the research on the buildings. We actually write the backs of the labels," Reeds said.

The tour is a chance to not just see the beautiful Depression-era buildings, but hear the stories behind them and how they're being used today.

Tulsa resident Lisa Surritte said, "I didn't know the history of all the buildings, and all the downtown Tulsa art deco, it was wonderful."

The tour included five stops altogether, including Union Station, Warehouse Market, Page Storage and Moving, Fairgrounds Pavilion and the Fire Alarm Building.