By Joe Malan, Staff Writer

The Youngblood family has a rich history in Enid.

But what some Enid residents may not know is the family has a significant connection to the University of Okla-homa in Norman.

The Laurence S. Youngblood Energy Library, located in the Sarkeys Energy Center at the university, contains several large fossil specimens donated by Loyce Lawson Youngblood, who established the library in 1989.

In addition to the sampling of ammonite, palm and other fossilized specimens, the library also holds 200,000 map sheets and more than 100,000 volumes of geological work for ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics.

“We are very indebted to the Young-blood family for this facility,” said Jody Bales Foote, Mr. and Mrs. Laurence S. Youngblood chairman for Energy (Geology) Librarian.

Loyce Youngblood was the wife of Laurence Snow Youngblood, who established the 15-story, 300-room Youngblood Hotel in Enid in 1930.

“For a few months, (the Youngblood Hotel) was the tallest building in the western half of Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City,” said David Wallace, husband of Loyce Ann Hemry Wallace, Loyce Youngblood’s niece.

Laurence also was the founding co-partner of the oil and gas leasing firm, Youngblood and Youngblood, which produced oil and gasoline in Canada from 1938 until 1965, when he died.

Background information about the Youngblood family was provided by Wallace.

The original Youngblood Hotel is now owned by Continental Resources, and is the northernmost of the two tall buildings in downtown Enid.

Loyce Youngblood, like her husband, was well involved in the oil and gasoline industry.

She was Gov. Frank Buttram’s secretary from 1937 to 1940, then worked with her husband for 25 years in his business.

After Laurence’s death, Loyce formed the L.S. Youngblood Co. in Oklahoma City and operated the business until she died June 2, 2007 in Nichols Hills.

In 1985, Youngblood gave a “major gift,” according to the April 14, 1985, Sunday Oklahoman, to the University of Oklahoma Energy Center to establish the library.

The library was said to be a $45 million project.

Loyce established the library on the second floor of the energy center in 1989.

According to an article published by Professor Emerita Claren M. Kidd in the September/October 2007 issue of The Journal of the Oklahoma City Geological Society, the library was designed to Loyce’s specifications.

Loyce worked with interior designers to purchase and place “...the furniture, carpeting, lighting, and mineralogical and paleontological specimens” in the library and Youngblood reading area, also on the second floor, according to the article.

In 1990 and 1991, Loyce purchased and installed the fossils that are mounted in the library’s entry area and nearby hallway.

Among the fossils in the library are a large ammonite, with a nautiloid inside, found northeast of Monclova in the state of Coahuila, Mexico; a large sable palm frond, found in southwest Wyoming; a slab of carboniferous plants, found near St. Clair, Pa.; a small ammonite from the area of La Mission, Baja California, Mexico; and a slab of a dozen or so cephalopods found in the desert of southeast Morocco and southwest Algeria.

A display of large, 4-foot-tall selenite crystals from Mexico also was donated by Loyce Youngblood.

But that’s not all. Loyce also donated the material making up the library’s entry walls and hall, floor and countertops.

The wall that displays the name of the library is made of sheets of limestone filled with fossils of shells and other small organisms. That limestone was found underground in areas north of Austin, Texas.

The dark floors and countertops are made of a mineral called quartz monzonite, which came from Quebec.

Foote said the size of the fossils astonish her.

“How they were extracted from the earth is just amazing,” she said.

Foote said she’ll see parents of students or other people come into the library and marvel at the size and intricacy of the fossils.

“We love sharing the generosity of the Youngblood family with everyone,” she said. “I think we’re the finest library on campus.”