The Shotgun House in Oklahoma

Abstract

The shotgun house is a common form of folk architecture found in the cultural landscape of Oklahoma. It diffused into Oklahoma during the early decades of the 20th century and became a part of the built environment especially in boom towns associated with lumbering, mining and petroleum. Means of diffusion were related to the connectivity which existed between Oklahoma and the adjacent states of Texas and Louisiana where the shotgun was a popular house type. Diffusion within Oklahoma occurred primarily through the movement of migratory labor, particularly petroleum workers who followed booms from field to field. Substantial evidence suggests that the majority of Oklahoma's shotgun houses were either constructed in boom towns or on oil lease sites. They tended to follow the basic floor plan and simple construction techniques of shotguns found in rural Texas and Louisiana rather than the variations which developed in the cities along the Mississippi River. Results of a recent survey in Cushing, an oil boom town, indicate shotguns have endured for almost 70 years.