How did it get that name?
Chances are, if you have driven in the western half of Oklahoma City, whether north or south you have crossed Blackwelder Avenue.
I have started driving on SE 59th regularly and cross Blackwelder at least twice a week. It started me wondering, just where did the name come from.
After searching The Oklahoman Archives, I discovered that Blackwelder Avenue was named for early Oklahoma City pioneer, Guy Elliott Blackwelder.
Photograph of Guy Blackwelder published in The Oklahoman May 10, 1911.
Guy Blackwelder was born in Kansas and moved with his family shortly after the Run of 1889. He was a member of the city’s first high school graduating class in 1895 and played football on the school team.
Guy Blackwelder, with his father, M.L. Blackwelder operated the Blackwelder Co., a real estate firm in Oklahoma City. The Blackwelders were early day home builders.
From 1911 to 1917, he served two terms as commissioner of public works (in charge of streets, sewer and sidewalks) and it was at this time the city street was named in his honor.
In 1944 Guy Blackwelder was killed in an automobile accident at the intersection of Britton and Eastern (Martin Luther King Blvd.)
Mary Phillips
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