Historic Tulsa

strong that a book containing popular recipes
and company history is now in its second
printing. Blue Flame Favorites is available
through Oklahoma Natural Gas Company.
The company was also an early pioneer in
the use of television to reach consumers
when, in 1949, the company aired the Lookin’
at Cookin’ television show on Tulsa’s KOTV.
The show, later called Coffee Break, was
broadcast through 1980, making it the
longest running single-sponsored television
program of its time.
Though the utility would spend its first
twenty years headquartered in Oklahoma
City, in 1928 it moved the center of its
operations to Tulsa and its newly completed
Oklahoma Natural Gas Company building at
624 South Boston.
This was Tulsa’s second building to be
designed in the Art Deco tradition and it helped
pave the way for the host of Art Deco buildings
that followed. Currently listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, the ten-story building
was constructed of reinforced concrete,
enclosed with buff, tapestry brick and trimmed
with Indiana limestone and vitreous tile.
Ultimately, the company’s enormous
growth and industry success brought it to its
current headquarters in downtown Tulsa.
Eighteen-story ONEOK Plaza, at 100 West
Fifth Street, was completed in 1984.
Today, ONEOK is a diversified energy
company involved in natural gas production,
gathering, storage, transmission and energy
services. Additionally, successful processing
facilities mean that ONEOK is one of the
nation’s top ten suppliers of natural gas
liquids. Also, it is the general operating
partner in one of the premier interstate
pipeline partnerships in the U.S.
ONEOK is the largest natural gas
distributor in Kansas and Oklahoma, and
the third largest in Texas, operating as
Kansas Gas Service Company, Oklahoma
Natural Gas Company and Texas Gas Service
Company, respectively. It provides natural
gas service to more than two million retail
customers in those three states, with
800,000 of those being in Oklahoma. And,
through its energy services segment, ONEOK
sells gas to wholesale customers and
large-volume users in nearly every state in
the union.
More than 4,600 dedicated employees ensure
ONEOK’s continued success as they prepare to
celebrate the ONEOK centennial in 2006.
ONEOK offers safe, reliable energy and
services to a diverse customer base. Following
a strategy that blends the performance and
profitability of all the segments, ONEOK has
a balanced business mix that enables it to
deliver sustainable earnings growth for the
shareholders. Its vision is to be the premier
energy company, developing assets along
the energy chain to create exceptional value
for all stakeholders.
ONEOK’s leaders have always believed in
giving back to the communities the company
serves. Nowhere is this more evident than in
its hometown.
In 2004, ONEOK received an award
from the Tulsa Chapter of the Association
for Women in Communications for its
support of women in the worlplace and it was
honored for business leadership by the
Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League. It also
received the 2004 Community Service Award
from the Southern Gas Association.
For its long involvement with the arts,
ONEOK received the corporate leadership
award from the Oklahoma Arts Council in
2004. Additionally, ONEOK supports
Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum,
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, Tulsa
Performing Arts Center Trust, Tulsa Ballet
Theatre and the Tulsa Historical Society.
ONEOK is a Fortune 500 company listed on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
OKE. On the Internet go to www.oneok.com.
✧
Above: Oklahoma Natural Gas Company’s
Lookin at Cookin’ television program.
Below: ONEOK’s Tulsa headquarters today.
SHARING THE HERITAGE
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