Oklahoma historian and horticulturist release book on OKC parks' history

Oklahoma historian Bob Blackburn and horticulturist Brian Doherty have teamed up to create Parks of Oklahoma City, a new book exploring the development and history of the city's parks.

The two joined News 9 on the Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch to share more details.

“Brian’s career was with parks and horticulture and plants and trees. And mine is a history of Oklahoma City, history of Oklahoma,” Blackburn explained. “We put our two experiences together in Brian’s collections and came up with this book about the development of parks in Oklahoma City, who pushed them, who were the leaders, what was the planning, what was sustainability, and the difference in quality of life.”

The book highlights parks like Wheeler Park and Scissortail Park, examining their development over the years. “When you look at Wheeler Park and what it was in 1900, and you look at Scissortail Park today, and you sit there and say, very similar in a lot of ways,” Blackburn said. “Those are community parks, but then there were the regional parks, there’s the neighborhood parks.”

The book is available at Full Circle Books and will be featured at a book signing at Scissortail Park on May 10th from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.