The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

21 July 2007

Biltmore: the local angle

One thing I brought up with a staffer at the Biltmore Estate: "How is it that Oklahoma City, a place not exactly crawling with Vanderbilts, wound up with a Biltmore Hotel?"

Mr Vanderbilt, said the guide, actually granted the right to use the name "Biltmore" to some of his friends, so long as they did so far from Asheville. This was apparently done in lieu of proper trademark registration. George W. Vanderbilt died in 1914, so I have to wonder how many friends he had in Oklahoma City, and why they took so long. From Doug Loudenback's history pages:

Construction of this lost treasure was done in 1932 and, at 26 stories (not including basement and sub-basements), it boasted that it had become the tallest building not only in Oklahoma City but in Oklahoma — whether true or not (both the 1931 1st National Center and the Ramsey Tower were 33 stories). A March 8, 1932, Oklahoman article says that it had 619 rooms. Built at the southeast corner of Grand (Sheridan) and Harvey, it eventually fell prey to Urban Renewal (though in the Pei Plan that was not planned) and was destroyed on October 16, 1977, as thousands of onlookers watched. In its latter days, it became the Sheraton Oklahoma before its doors closed for good in 1973.

An image from a hotel flyer from the 1950s shows a crest similar to, but not identical to, the one I saw at the Estate.

The present-day Biltmore Oklahoma City still has a lot of rooms, but it's located out in the Reno/Meridian corridor, and its only distinction these days is that they hold the occasional dog show on the premises.

Posted at 8:05 AM to City Scene


I remember all the news coverage in OKC when they imploded that building. Remember the little white something waving out of one of the windows, that people were afraid was a person who had been trapped inside? We were living in a Trailer Park on the (then) south side of Moore and my dad was in med school at OU while my mom was teaching and getting her masters (also at OU). Hence, we had no money, so we lived in a trailer. :)

Thanks for reminding me about that; I'll never forget our huddling in the living room, watching the implosion replay over and over and over again, with the little white waving thing magnified to see if they could figure out what it was.

Posted by: Gradual Dazzle at 8:58 PM on 21 July 2007