The books listed below offer a wealth of information on everything from preservation theory to identification of architectural styles and details. This list was comprised from the readings of Preservation Oklahoma staffers and will grow to include others as we discover them. So please check back often for new additions. We've also included websites for several historic preservation and architecture related organizations and businesses that have their own online bookstores. In the near future, we hope to be able to offer these books for sale on our website. But for now, please check with your local libraries and bookstores or order from a reputable online bookseller.
Websites
Arcadia Publishing
This company publishes a book series on local history written by local historians called Images of America. There are some 4800 titles currently in the series, 30 of which are Oklahoma subjects, and they are adding titles all the time. These are easy reads and include a multitude of historic photographs.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
The book section of the National Trust for Historic Preservation has many resources and are arranged by subject. Members of the National Trust receive a discount on purchases.
Oklahoma Historical Society
The various publications and books published by OHS are available on their website including online versions of their magazine "the Chronicles of Oklahoma".
Preservation Directory
This online resource for historic preservation, building restoration and cultural resource management is a wealth of information. Arranged by subject, books and publications on everything from researching history to Route 66 resources to real estate information is here. There's also a link to other historical societies and their bookstores.
Books
A Field Guide to American Houses
Virginia McAlester and Lee McAlester
Knopf (1984)
ISBN 0394510321
Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms 1600-1945
John J. G. Blumenson
W. W. Norton & Company (1990)
ISBN 0393306100
Conserving Buildings
Martin E. Weaver
Wiley (1997)
ISBN 0471509442
Historic Preservation: An Introduction To Its History, Principles, and Practice
Norman Tyler, Ted J. Ligibel, Ilene Tyler
W. W. Norton & Company (2009)
ISBN 0393732738
With Heritage So Rich
Byrd Wood and the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation (1999)
ISBN 0891333967
The Railroad Station: An Architectural History
Carroll L.V. Meeks
Dover Publications (1995)
ISNB 0486286274
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs
Modern Library (1993)
ISBN 0679600477
Historic Preservation: Curatorial Management of the Built World
James Marston Fitch
University of Virginia Press (1990)
ISBN 0813912725
The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
James Howard Kunstler
Free Press (1994)
ISBN 0671888250
Cities Back From the Edge: New Life for Downtown
Roberta Brandes Gratz and Norman Mintz
Wiley (2000)
ISBN 0471361240
The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism
Adam Rome
Cambridge University Press (2001)
ISBN 0521804906
Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache
Keith H. Basso
University of New Mexico Press (1996)
ISBN 0826317243
Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You
David E. Kyvig
AltaMira Press (2010)
ISBN 0759113009
Cultural Resource Laws and Practice
Thomas F. King
AltaMira Press (2008)
ISBN 0759111898
Recording Historic Structures
John A. Burns
Wiley (2003)
ISBN 0471273805
American Building: The Environmental Forces that Shape it
James Marston Fitch
Oxford University Press, USA (1999)
ISBN 0195110404
OKC: Second Time Around
Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money
Full Circle Press (2006)
ISBN 0966146026
The Economics of Historic Preservation
Donovan D. Rypkema
National Trust for Historic Preservation (2005)
ISBN 0891333886
Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture
Cyrl M. Harris
Dover Publications (1983)
ISBN 048624444X