403 South Cheyenne, Photograph from 1930
The Adams Hotel is located on a lot in the heart of the Central Business District of Tulsa. Built by I. S. Mincks to capitalize on the 1928 International Petroleum Exposition, the building has thirteen floors, with a full basement and penthouse. A 1935 liquidation sale gave it new owners and a new name: the Adams Hotel.
The Adams facade is widely recognized as an excellent example of glazed terra-cotta veneering.
Produced by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, the terra cotta pastel blues and reds are still quite noticeable, and the individual tile units are sound, with tight mortar joints.
The architectural style of the facade is eclectic, in the mood of the 1893 to 1917 period when architects felt free to use any and all decorative motifs as they saw fit. Its highly ornate facade is an imaginative combination of Gothic, Italian Renaissance, and Baroque decorations.
Just to the right of the handsome main doors is a plaque recognizing that the Adams Building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel was listed in the National Register on November 7, 1978, under National Register Criterion C, and its NRIS number is 78002273.
Terra cotta is also used extensively in the interior of the building in the lobby, restaurant, and all the way up the stairwell. The interior doors are double and made of heavy dark wood.
The floor and walls are faced with decorative tile as are the stair risers.
The old elevators have been upgraded but the original brass letterbox is still in place.
The current occupant for the larger part of the ground floor is the
Casa Laredo, an upscale Mexican restaurant which makes good use of the ornate tile on the floor and walls.
(Text courtesy Tulsa Preservation Commission) . (Older photos courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society.)
