History
From territorial days until the 1920's Brady Heights was an important part of the then fashionable north side of Tulsa. Young professional businessmen and oil men, such as G.Y. Vandever, I.S. Minks and "Diamond Joe" Wilson, owned homes here. The area derives its name from W. Tate Brady, a pioneer Tulsa developer and entrepreneur, who was a powerful political force in the state's early years. He was Oklahoma's first Democratic National committeeman, and he built the Cain's Ballroom and the now extinct Brady Hotel.
Tate Brady built the distinctive mansion reminiscent of Robert E. Lee's Arlington home and gave the housing addition the "Brady Heights" name. Most of the homes in Brady Heights were built between 1910 and 1930, although we do have one home that was built pre- statehood. The houses of Brady Heights are of a larger scale and of a more complex design than those of the adjacent neighborhoods. Bay windows with leaded glass, carriage houses and broad porches suggest the elegance of earlier days.
Historic Brady Heights, the first residential neighborhood built outside of the downtown area, was home to many of the families responsible for Tulsa's early prominence. Located north of downtown on high ground conducive to cooling breezes and supported by a trolley line on North Cheyenne Avenue, Brady Heights was an exclusive neighborhood of grand mansions, foursquares of generous proportion, and bungalows in the Prairie and Craftsman styles.
Recent History
Brady Heights Neighborhood Association is one of the oldest neighborhood associations in Tulsa. The association was formed originally to promote a feeling of small town togetherness, address crime issues, promote beautification, and protect historic structures.
What began as "the place to live" in the 20s, fell into disrepair during the 60s and 70s. The neighborhood began its rise again in the 80s with new residents referred to as pioneers as they moved into homes that had previously been scheduled for demolition.
In the early 1980s, the Brady Heights Neighborhood Association was formed, and with the help of residents and city officials, it was the first Tulsa neighborhood to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1999 the area was protected by Historic Preservation Overlay Zoning. Read more about the Brady Heights Guidelines.
Today many of the homes have been repaired and remodeled by the homeowners themselves and involved lots of neighborhood sheetrock, painting and roofing parties. Our present neighborhood still has that small town feel and like a small town it is very diverse in its population. We feel that we have been pioneers in the area of race relations within a city that has a history of being racially divided in the past. We are proud of the diverse yet cohesive nature of our neighborhood. We are black, white, Mexican, Native American, Asian, young, old, gay, straight and have a wide range of economic differences. We are a front porch community where everyone knows their neighbors. We are still involved in crime prevention, helping our elderly keep up their homes, historic preservation and lastly, the reason for creating the Tulsa Spirit Monument and the Art Parkway, beautification. Read more about the Tulsa Spirit Monument and the Art Parkway.
We have worked with the city to provide traffic calming devices in the form of traffic circles in the middle of North Denver Ave, which is the gateway into Tulsa from the north, and to Gilcrease Museum from the south. This originated out of our need to protect the many children who play, ride bikes and walk home from school on this heavily traveled street.
Recent developments and projects have kept the revitalization continuing apace. The Tisdale Expressway and the campus of OSU/Tulsa have redefined the region, spurring a redesign of traffic patterns in the area. A cul-de-sac was built on Cheyenne Avenue in anticipation of the upcoming Fairview extension.
The Brady Heights Neighborhood Association (BHNA), with tremendous support from community banks and local officials, built the first new (and historically appropriate) home in the neighborhood in many, many years; and the home sold at market value. Subsequently, six new historically appropriate infill houses were constructed on Cheyenne Avenue. This very exciting project was a partnership between the neighborhood and the Homebuilder's Association of Greater Tulsa, Tulsa Development Authority, the Mayor's office, Spirit Bank, Fannie Mae and the Metafund.
BHNA was reorganized in 2000 to form a 501(c)(3) in order to allow for support and funding of rehabilitation programs without federal restrictions for our low-mod neighborhood.