Welcome to what may be one of the best single collection of Oklahoma City history - all from the archives of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Anyone interested in the history of the OCPD should first read "Oklahoma Justice" by Ron Owens or visit the history site created by Owens and Ed Hill.

Our next suggestion? Visit the new historical police exhibit at the Bricktown Police Substation, 219 E Main.

We start our photo collection with a picture of Charles Colcord, who was the first provisional police chief in the brand new city. He would later become the first sheriff of Oklahoma County, then in 1893 a U.S. deputy marshal stationed in Perry. He would return to Oklahoma City at the turn of the century with $7,000, investing in land and eventually becoming a wealthy developer.

His most notable influence still visible today is the restored Colcord Hotel at Sheridan and Robinson Avenues.

Colcord's biography is widely considered one of the rarest Oklahoma City history books with only 500 printed and never distributed for sale.

Below is an early day police patrol wagon - motorized cars were still years away when Oklahoma City was first founded.

They called it "Cottonwood Bastille."

Five early 1900s Oklahoma City Police Officers.

An 1891 Oklahoma County jury.

The force, circa 1902.

An OCPD paddy wagon, circa 1910.