The end of the DeBarr historic District
In 1991 the National Park Service approved an application to add the "Debarr Historic District" in Norman, Oklahoma, to the National Register of Historic Places. This district included the 700 block of DeBarr Avenue, the 100 and 200 blocks of West Duffy Street, the 700 block of Jenkins Avenue, the 700, 800, and 900 blocks of Monnett Avenue, the 200 block of Eddington Street, the 200 block of McCullough Street, and the 100, 200, and 300 blocks of East Boyd Street, in the Larsh's University Addition. In 2017, concerned citizens of Norman circulated a petition to rename DeBarr avenue due to its namesake Dr. Edwin DeBarr's roles as Grand Dragon of the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan and later National Chaplain of the KKK. Following the change of the street name to Deans Row Avenue, Norman citizens Dr. Michael Givel and Casey Holcomb began investigating the process of changing the name of the historic district as well. In the process, they discovered that the district had changed significantly and was no longer eligible to remain on the National Register. The documents below were provided to the Cleveland County Historical Society by Dr. Givel in the summer of 2022 in order to tell the story of the de-listing of the DeBarr Historical District from the National Registry of Historic Places.
An article describing in further depth the district's de-listing process and the reason behind it will be published here in the coming months.
An article describing in further depth the district's de-listing process and the reason behind it will be published here in the coming months.