The 320 South Boston Building, formerly known as the National Bank of Tulsa Building, is a 22-story highrise building located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was originally constructed at the corner of Third Street and Boston Avenue as a ten-story headquarters building for the Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1917, and expanded to its present dimensions in 1929. The addition brought the building's height to 400 feet (122 m), making it the tallest building in Oklahoma. It lost this distinction in 1931, but remained the tallest building in Tulsa until Fourth National Bank (today Bank of America Center) was completed in 1967.
In 1933, Exchange National Bank reorganized and renamed itself as the National Bank of Tulsa. Thereafter, the building was known as the National Bank of Tulsa Building (or NBT Building), until the bank renamed itself as Bank of Oklahoma (BOK). The BOK moved to its newly-constructed BOK Tower in 1977. The NBT Building reverted to its former 320 South Boston Building name and became a general office building.
Like the Empire State Building, the pinnacle of 320 South Boston was designed as a Zeppelin mooring. This was used at least once when a U.S. Navy Zeppelin moored there in the 1930s. The top of the building was illuminated for weather alerts, with flashing red lights in the event of an approaching storm.
The architect was George Winkler, who also designed the Mayo Hotel.
Famous quotes containing the words south, boston and/or building:
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“If nobody knows you that does not argue that you be unknown, nobody knew Ida when they no longer lived in Boston but that did not mean that she was unknown.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)