A city honor continues down the road
Nearly 90 years ago, on Nov. 6, 1929, The Oklahoman announced the naming of two streets to honor Oklahoma City pioneers.
Honoring the late Capt. David Payne and A.O. Campbell, chairman of the city planning commission, the city council Tuesday designated “old” Broadway from Broadway Circle to Thirteenth street, “Payne avenue,” and named the Dale avenue parkway “Campbell Park.”
Capt. David L. Payne was the leader of the Boomer Movement to open the Unassigned Lands to settlers and A. O. “Archie” Campbell was a builder who came to Oklahoma City from Nebraska in 1900. He died in 1935.
The Oklahoman on April 23, 1939, published a Golden Anniversary edition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1889 Land Run. Price & Kern, Building Contractors, who were the successors to Campbell’s firm, Campbell & Price, paid tribute to Archie O. Campbell:
Mr. Campbell headed construction firms erecting such buildings as the Culbertson Building — a skyscraper in its day, and modern buildings including Central High School, Masonic Temple, Hightower Building and many other fine structures in Oklahoma and surrounding states. It was he who was responsible for opening North Broadway from Park Place to 13th Street, and the creation of the park east of Broadway which was named Campbell Park in his honor.
During the last fifteen years of his life, the greater part of his time was devoted to civic betterment to Oklahoma City . ... He was chairman of the City Planning Commission, president State Fair Association and a director in the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce for many years. He was a most enthusiastic hunter and fisherman.
The park, extending from Park Place to NW 13th, still bears A.O. Campbell’s name with a recent addition, renaming it the Campbell Art Park.
The park has benches and walkways, and in 2005 the anchor from the USS Oklahoma was moved to the park.
With the future home of the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center under construction along east side of the park and having already hosted two major art exhibitions, “Terra”, made of terra cotta-colored recycled lobster fishing rope and “Cloud City”, an interactive sculpture, Campbell Park will be a destination for art lovers for years to come.
On the other hand. just four year later, in 1933, a petition was presented to the planning commission to change the name of Payne Avenue to Broadway Place.
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