Delmar Garden

The Sinopoulo brothers came from Magoula, near Sparta, emigrated in 1893 and reached Oklahoma City in 1902 by way of New York, Chicago and St. Louis. John Sinopoulo and Joseph Marre, who had trained at the Delmar Garden in St. Louis, leased the 140 acres from Charles F. Colcord. In 1910 John and Peter bought the Lyric Air Dome, had five more theaters by World War I, merged them into Midwest Enterprises in 1920 and leased them to Warner Pictures in 1930. Their foundation built a school and hospital near Magoula, and King Paul of Greece knighted both brothers.

What the plaque says

Delmar Garden This marker is located in the heart of the area where the largest and most lavish amuse- ment park in the history of Okla- homa once stood. Delmar Garden extended westward from Reno and Western, and covered 140 acres. It opened in 1903 and oper- ated through the summer of 1910. It was developed by John and Peter Sinopoulo. The Sinopoulo brothers later became the city's principal theater owners. Delmar Garden was host to many region- al and national meetings includ- ing the National Editorial Con- vention and an early attempt at a constitutional convention. The park boasted an outdoor theater seating twelve hundred people, a scenic railway, dance hall, beer garden, swimming pool, baseball park, and a race track.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum — 1.2 mi
  The outdoor memorial and museum on the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where 168 people were killed at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, shaped by the families and survivors.
• First Americans Museum — 3.0 mi
  The museum of the 39 First American nations in Oklahoma today, on the Oklahoma River, with galleries shaped by each nation, Smithsonian objects brought home and a 90-foot mound.

More markers nearby

• Joseph Bradfield Thoburn — 4.9 mi
• Council Grove — 4.9 mi
• Oklahoma City No. 1 — 5.5 mi
• Oklahoma's First Television Station Channel 4 — 7.2 mi