About the Mid-Continent Tower

A truly monumental achievement of modernization, the Mid-Continent Tower displays an uncompromising integrity of style with more than a half century separating the two phases of the building's construction.
The original structure was built in 1918 by Joshua Cosden, one of Tulsa's most colorful oil barons, known in his day as the "Prince of Petroleum." Rising 16 stories above Fourth Street and Boston Avenue, the ornately decorated Tudor-Gothic "Cosden Building" was Tulsa's first skyscraper.
Later known as the "Mid-Continent Building," the Tulsa landmark was painstakingly restored to its original grandeur in 1980 and re-equipped to meet the needs of a modern corporate environment.
Soon thereafter, work was begun on the dramatic addition that would more than triple the building's size. From an adjacent structural "twin," builders raised a cantilevered tower 20 stories above the Mid-Continent Building. Extending 40 feet over the older building, the tower creates the appearance of an upward continuation of the original structure.
Completed and renamed in 1984, the Mid-Continent Tower received an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1985, and has won numerous other national awards since then. The building is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.