Burbank Hotel

Like many other Osage County towns, Burbank Oklahoma had its upbringing through the discovery of oil in the 1920s. Discovered just north of the town by Ernest W. Marland, it was one of the best petroleum fields in Oklahoma producing 31 million barrels of oil. This led to it becoming a boomtown and seemingly overnight it had a bank, stores, a newspaper called The Burbank Tribune, and a few hotels to house the oil-workers. With a surge in residents and oil workers came crime as well, the local Burbank Jail held some of the misdemeanor criminals and is one of the few historic buildings that still stand in the dwindling town today.

Hotel Jameson 1922-1936

Plans to build a two-story hotel off the main street in town were thought up by Mr. Jameson of Hominy in November of 1921 as the town began to bring in more oil workers.

Carrying his namesake, this became Hotel Jameson and was one of the best hotels in Burbank. It was constructed with twelve rooms on the first floor and twelve rooms on the second floor for a total of 24 rooms.

The Jameson Hotel just barely survived the 1936 tornado that destroyed much of the town that was already disappearing due to the Great Depression. It tore the roof off and flooded the entire second story of the hotel.

Richardson Hotel 1937-1950

But even then the community persevered and they rebuilt the hotel and fixed the damaged buildings. Locals Mr and Mrs. Walter Richardson purchased the building and renamed it Richardson Hotel. With the new roof, the balcony was extended over the second story and other updates were made to ensure it was the most modern for the little town.

At the time they had pivoted the marketing strategy of the previous owner to not only include the commercial workers but also tourists and vacationists. Rooms were described as “clean, comfortable, and cheerful” making it safe to assume that the hotel staff welcomed anyone who stayed.

But for an unknown reason, the Richardsons put the business up for sale in 1945. Mrs. Isbelle Perkins purchased it but again sold it a few years later. It was reopened in 1949 by Mrs. Belva Darbe, it had already built such a high reputation under the Richardson name that she kept it.

Burbank Hotel 1951- ~1970

D.E. East purchased it and renamed it the Burbank Hotel in 1950-51. He didn’t own it long as H.T. Sherrill purchased the hotel in 1952. In the photo above you can see how it was repainted over the previous Richardson Hotel name. At the time he was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in town.

Rather than advertising it as just a hotel he also leased the rooms as apartments. Rooms were around $20 a month, and meals were 40 cents each.

Seemingly going through owners just as quickly as it went through guests. It sold two more times in the 1950s. To the J.W. and Elsie Humes family in 1953 who ran it until 1960 when they sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Art Nolen.

The hotel had managed to survive a dozen or so owners, survived the Great Depression, and the dying of its town. It was one of the last businesses standing in the town in 1969. At the time it was owned and operated by Mrs. Lucy Kuykendall as a convenience to the last few oil workers left in the area.

It was finally closed around 1970 and was then turned into a private residence in the years before it became abandoned officially around 2010.

Gallery Below of Burbank Hotel

Special thanks to Minnie Moore Burbank Mayor for the old photos of Burbank from Town Hall.

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