To the surprise of some, downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, is one of America’s foremost architectural marvels. In the 1920s, a flood of oil money rushed into town, leading to a boom of spectacular and ornate architecture, much of it in the popular Art Deco style of the time. Many of these buildings, such as the spectacular Boston Avenue Methodist Church, rank among the most beautiful examples of 20th-century architecture in the United States. At the forefront of Tulsa’s wealth and architectural splendor was one man, Waite Phillips, who left behind two…
