Maple Ridge Properties

Maple Ridge Historic District

Representative Sample of Properties

1. HOLLOWAY/CARLTON HOUSE (1531 South Madison Avenue) 1919
Holloway/Carlton HouseThe C. O. Holloway/Walt Carlton home is located in the Morningside Subdivision which was platted in 1912, less than five years after Statehood. The area and the home represent the phenomenal growth of Tulsa from the Perryman Cattle Empire, through the discovery of oil in Red Fork and Glen Pool. The home has 2,800 square feet of living area and is constructed of stucco with wood trim. It has a two-car garage with quarters, and gas fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom.
2. O’ROUKE HOUSE (1602 South Madison Avenue) 1916
O’Rouke HouseThis home boasts a full marble vestibule with a floor to ceiling beveled, leaded glass transom and side windows. All floor joints are mitered, and intricately carved mantels grace the living room areas. The home was originally built for Mr. Edward O’Rouke, Jr., founder and head of the O’Rouke Oil Company of Tulsa. During O’Rouke’s ownership, the home was decorated with imported wall tapestries which vied in beauty and expense with the tapestries of the Dresser Mansion (located off Riverside Drive and 18th Street). The second owners of the home were Dr. and Mrs. Levine. The Levine family came to Tulsa after having been forced to leave their native Russian Ukraine area by the Russian Revolution. While the dining room chandelier is original to the home, the crystal, living room chandelier was added in the 1930s by Dr. Levine and his wife after they purchased it in Czechoslovakia.
3. CHILDS HOUSE (1616 South Madison Avenue) 1927
Childs HouseThis Irish Cottage home boasts Tiffany-styled stained glass “sidelights” and a stairway landing window. The original horse barn on the property was veneered to match the house, and servant quarters were built on the second floor of the garage. Dr. James Childs was the founder of the Tulsa Men’s Rose Club and did much of his own hybridizing. As a result, the formal rose beds, which take up the entire back yard of the home, contain several beautiful one-of-a-kind rose bushes produced by Dr. Childs. Dr. Childs, a physician born in the 1870s, insisted upon including steam heat in the home because he was convinced that, “It is the only kind of heating system fit for human habitation.”
4. DANIEL/HAGERMAN HOUSE (1723 South Madison Avenue) 1917
Daniel/Hagerman HouseThis Italianate-style home of Colonel Daniel/Hagerman is in the Morningside Subdivision which was platted in 1912. The front veranda of the home boasts inlaid mosaic tile in a Grecian design, surrounding a brass and terrazzo terrace. A cornice in the ornate dining room pre-dates the Civil War, and is said to have once been owned by Abraham Lincoln and to have been used in his home in Springfield, Illinois.Financing for the home was arranged through the Exchange National Bank, an oil bank formed primarily to finance oil deals for the Mid-Continent field. The founders of the Exchange National Bank were J. J. McGraw, Harry Sinclair, and his brother, Earl Sinclair. In 1916, the Morningside Addition Company, the developer, executed a mortgage to C. S. Avery, for whom Avery Drive was named, and the property was sold to the Nettie Wilson family who invested in the construction of the home in 1917.
5. GERHARDT HOUSE (1728 South Madison Avenue) 1919
Gerhardt HouseThis Prairie School home was built by an early day Tulsa oil operator for his family. The bold interplay of horizontal planes with the solid vertical mass of the central chimney, along with the cantilevered overhangs, are identifying features of the style. Much of the interior construction material was imported from Europe and still graces the home. The prime developer of the style was Frank Lloyd Wright. He rejected the popular academic revival styles and sought to create buildings that reflected the rolling mid-western prairie terrain on which they stood. As a result, the Prairie house had a predominantly horizontal appearance with broad hipped or gabled roof and widely overhanging eaves. Often the roof was penetrated by a large, plain, rectangular chimney. Prairie houses generally were two-stories high with walls of light colored stucco or brick and wood. Walls were always arranged at right angles.
6. “HUNTLEIGH” (1030 East 18th Street) 1916
HuntleighConstruction on this Late Georgian style house began in 1914. It was completed and the Dan Hunt family moved in by May of 1916. It has six 35-foot, Doric Order columns made of cypress wood. They were “dressed” in Louisiana and shipped to Tulsa on railroad flat cars. The portico of the house was propped up with huge timbers resembling telephone poles, which were used until the pillars were installed. The frieze is stuccoed, and is indented entirely around the seventy-five by fifty-foot building. The home was originally lighted by “Gasoliers” which were piped for gas and wired for electricity. The eighteen-room house contains three floors plus a partial basement and furnace room. There are 6,086 square feet of actual living area, and 4,000 square feet of porches, verandas, basement, etc. In addition, there is three-car garage over which is a four-room servants’ quarters. The roof is of fired clay tile and has galvanized guttering. The top of the roof peak is fifty feet from the ground. This was the third house to be built in Maple Ridge. Dan Hunt owned the old Medical Arts Building, the Hunt Building and the Hunt Dry Goods Store, which later became the Brown-Dunkin Building.
7. MCGRAW/CAPEHART HOUSE (1110 East 18th Street) 1915
McGraw/Capehart HouseThis home is accented with original stained glass windows encircling the first floor. Intricately carved wood is prevalent throughout the first floor and on the upper two floors. A formal entrance of paneled oak is enhanced by the graceful twin oak staircase. The living room has a carved finial above each of the five doorways. The walls have both oak and silk paneling. Wood carvings above the windows in both the living room and dining room correspond to the carvings of the marble mantels. The dining room is paneled in mahogany, which is accentuated by carvings around the entire room. There are numerous French doors and sliding pocket doors of leaded glass. There is a painted canvas above the sliding, leaded glass doors to both the living room and dining room. Stained glass windows in the library reflect beautifully on the walls of paneled cherry wood. Twin staircases lead to the third floor ballroom of carved oak panels with a beamed ceiling. The basement consists of five finished rooms including a large walk-in vault. The majority of the fixtures throughout the home are original. Heavy brass hardware highlights each room. McGraw, along with Harry and Earl Sinclair, was instrumental in developing the Exchange National Bank in the early twentieth century.
8. MCGUIRE HOUSE (1132 East 18th Street) 1915
McGuire HouseThis 1915 Prairie School style mansion was designed and built by John T. Blair. The rock veneer exterior is accented by paired, triple and quadruple window bays with white stone sills. The entrance is flanked by massive pillars supporting a flat roof portico. The original owner of this house was Bird McGuire, who returned to Tulsa after serving four terms as the first Congressman from the 1st Congressional District of Oklahoma. Congressman McGuire was a Republican and did not seek re-election in 1914. He planned on returning to Tulsa to establish a law practice and sought a suitable area to construct a home. At the time McGuire returned to Tulsa, Stonebraker Heights was the desired location for new house construction; however, by late 1914, all lots had been sold and none were on the market. McGuire contacted John T. Blair, an architect and noted builder of the time, and requested his assistance in finding a lot and designing a house. Blair selected this Maple Ridge location. McGuire and his wife hand selected each stone for the house and they were carried to the site from the Osage Hills by horse drawn wagon.
9. HANE HOUSE (1029 East 19th Street) 1916
Hane HouseThe home of C. E. Hane is located in the original Maple Ridge Addition. The two and one-half floor home is constructed of solid brick and hollow tile. Cut-stone accents are used to give architectural detail and interest on the exterior. The home has elements typical of the Prairie School. All lower floor windows boast operable transoms above the main sashes. These were typically used for increased circulation during the hot Oklahoma summer.
10. STEBBINS/TALBOT HOUSE (1030 East 19th Street) 1915
Stebbins/Talbot HouseThis Colonial Revival style mansion has a nearly full-width, open front porch with a flat roof adorned by a vertical stile wood railing with paired wooden posts. The porch is supported by round, tapered columns positioned under the paired balcony posts. Following the complete development of the first residential area south of 13th Street, Grant Stebbins acquired the area between 17th and 21st Street, east of the railroad tracks, from John Kramer. Stebbins intended to develop another area of fine residences, mainly for the officials of the developing oil industry. The land was about two miles from the downtown area. Consequently, Stebbins had difficulty selling the building sites. As an inducement to build, Stebbins donated a lot to Bird McGuire, the first congressman from District 1 in Oklahoma. From that beginning the Maple Ridge area developed. Stebbins’ family was involved in the formation and growth of the First National Bank and Trust Company. His son-in-law, R. Otis McClintock, was chairman of the board of this bank and has exerted a controlling influence over it during his life as a member of the Tulsa business community.
11. MCCLINTOCK HOUSE (1024 East 19th Street) 1913
This home was built by R. Otis McClintock on land which Grant Stebbins, his father-in-law and the major developer of Maple Ridge, gave to his daughter as a wedding present. The home contains two second-floor verandas and a full length covered master chamber. This home, an adaptation of the Federal style, was originally built on a treeless prairie on the fringe of a rapidly growing Tulsa.
12. KISTLER HOUSE (1016 East 19th Street) 1921
This lovely, Colonial home was built by William L. Kistler. It is influenced by the Georgian style with a classical entry way, a fan window and divided side windows. Other Georgian influences are the center front gable, curved balusters on the porch railings, the double chimneys and a Palladian window over the first floor entry.Kistler was vice-president of the Producers and Refiners Corporation, one of the largest drilling companies operating in the oil fields of Oklahoma. He also organized and was vice-president of The Economy Oil Company of Tulsa.
13. WALKER HOUSE (305 East 19th Street) 1914
Walker HouseThis Neo-Classical style home with Georgian influence has massive two-story fluted columns with Ionic capitals. The entry is framed by an elliptical arched transom with prominent sidelights. The interior boasts several beautiful examples of Georgian woodwork, particularly in the dining room and library. The home was built by Presley G. Walker, a very wealthy early-day oil producer with interests in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Kansas. He was one of the organizers of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. A great deal of his fortune was anonymously distributed as endowments for cultural and educational purposes. This was accomplished without the publicity that so often surrounds gifts of this nature. He willed a permanent endowment of a History Chair at the University of Tulsa.
14. BEYER/WALLING HOUSE (230 East 20th Street) 1921
Beyer-Walling HouseThis Federalist influenced, Georgian home was built by J. W. Beyer, a prominent builder. One of the unusual features of the house is a mezzanine level library which was added by the Wallings. This library opens onto the center landing of the main staircase. In 1925, the home was purchased by Frank Walling, an early day oil operator and vice-president of The Gilcrease Oil Company. The Wallings occupied the house for forty-seven years through 1972.
15. KETCHUM HOUSE (1002 East 20th Street) 1920
Ketchum HouseThis Federalist Influence Colonial Revival mansion has a low hipped roof accentuated by a wide shed-roofed, centered dormer. The entry portico has wrought iron railing on the flat roof, serving as a balcony exit for two separated glazed panel doors. This wood-clad house has triple windows either side of the centered entry on lower and upper levels.Henry Ketchum had a mule-powered grading company that performed most of the street and basement excavation for the homes built in the Maple Ridge area when it was first being developed. The fabulous Cushing Oil Field began producing in 1912 and, by 1915, was producing 300,000 barrels of oil per day. The Oklahoma Attorney General ruled that oil was a natural resource and could not be shipped out of the state until after it had been refined. As there were insufficient refining facilities in the state at that time, much of this oil flowed over the ground and into the creek beds. Ketchum acquired some creek bottom acreage outside the area of the producing leases and moved his mules and equipment to Cushing where he dammed some of these creeks to impound the oil which he claimed and eventually sold to Oklahoma refineries for a reported \$500,000. This type of salvage operation was typical of the early days of the oil industry. It could not happen under the sophisticated, present-day methods of producing oil. It was after this period that Ketchum returned to Tulsa and built this Federalist Influence style home and the Ketchum Hotel.
16. BARRY HOUSE (1029 East 20th Street) 1920
Barry HouseThis Georgian Colonial Revival style home has an octagonal four-window bay projected beyond the facade above a massive entry portico. The lower level windows have a prominent vertical center mullion and full arches with keystones.William Barry built the Gallais portion of the Kennedy Building, but it was purchased by Kennedy shortly after completion and given the Kennedy name. The first apartments in Tulsa, located at Fifth and Elgin, were also constructed by Barry. His first wife, a member of the Gallais family, was killed in a tragic train wreck. He later married Nina Norris. Barry managed his father-in-law’s company, W. C. Norris Manufacturing.
17. NEWLIN HOUSE (1020 East 20th Street) 1917
This Georgian-influence Colonial Revival mansion’s exterior is clad in wood lapboard with unusual corner quoins. The side gabled structure has two front dormers with cornice gable returns. The prominent entry has a flat roof portico with wood railing creating a false balcony.Arthur Newlin was one of the founders of the Exchange National Bank, organized in 1910 after Harry F. Sinclair and P. J. White, co-owners of the White-Sinclair oil interests and forerunner of the present Sinclair Oil and Gas Company, pooled their resources. The new bank was supplemented by the resources of other independent operators and assumed the assets and all liabilities of the Farmers National Bank. The Exchange National Bank was formed with the avowed purpose of financing independent producers without resorting to backing from the Rockefeller and Mellon interests, who were alarmingly close to creating a monopoly in the petroleum industry. The policies of the Exchange National Bank were one of the major reasons that Tulsa was to become the Oil Capital of the World. This bank therefore was quite literally “born in the oil fields”.
18. AARONSON HOUSE (1029 East 21st Street) 1917
Aaronson HouseConstruction on this home was completed by Lionel Aaronson, an early pioneer of Tulsa. He built it for his son, Alfred E. Aaronson. This Colonial Revival style mansion has a railed, open balcony above the west porte cochere. A large centered front dormer and two smaller dormers to each side adorn the side gabled roof. A pedimented entry roof is supported by four round, tapered columns. This three-floor mansion has a full basement and huge rooms with heavy carved moldings on the walls and ceilings. The home contained a private synagogue until the early 1940s. A huge native oak tree, over 200 years old, shades the home and is called “The Shadows.”The Aaronsons built many homes in the area for family members. Through Lionel Aaronson, the family assembled much of the raw land from primarily Indian owners. The Aaronsons worked through the maze of legal entanglements required for residential development by the Indian agencies and tribal government.
19. MCDONNELL HOUSE (1207 East 21st Street) 1922
McDonnell HouseJohn V. McDonnell and Beverley T. Nelson, Sr., architects, visited The United Kingdom and were charmed by the Anne Hathaway cottage in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire. They built this home as a replica of that cottage using sketches and photographs of the original building. This cottage was built with eighteen-inch thick stone walls with oak beams and back panel, hand-blown glass window panes, hand-palmed walnut interior finish, mitered and pegged walnut ceiling beams, and three layers of cypress shake roof to produce the thatched appearance. This house is another example of the diversity of architectural design that is so typical of the Maple Ridge area.McDonnell and Nelson were partners in one of Tulsa’s first architectural firms and originally used the home as a combined office and bachelor living quarters. They were active in the design and construction of a large number of the homes in the Maple Ridge area, and also some office and commercial buildings in Tulsa.
20. SKELLY HOUSE (2103 South Madison Avenue) 1923
Skelly HouseThe Skelly mansion is a three-story building with a full basement, providing approximately 10,000 square feet of floor space. It faces west-northwest from a spacious, wooded corner lot. Its masonry exterior walls are faced with red brick, with a roof of green tile. The severe front entrance, with a classic architrave and a transom of clear, leaded glass, is flanked by carriage lights believed to have come from an early-day hearse. The entranceway is protected by a classic two-story portico supported by white cut stone columns with lotus style capitals. The portico is flanked on either side by a pair of double French doors, opening onto the terrace. A large second floor veranda with iron rail and iron staircase offering access to the yard may have been added some time after the house was built. The main feature of the ground floor is the long, forty foot dining room. The walls have murals in inset panels and arched mirrors with plaster mold frames in the French style. Unusual features of the second floor include an ornate, half-circle ceiling grill through which the third floor exhaust fan sucked cool air into the bedroom. The third floor has two servant rooms and a bath.William G. Skelly, oil producer, refiner, and marketer, purchased this neo-classic house in 1924. It remained in the Skelly family until 1968. The Skelly House remains one of Tulsa’s premier historical buildings. This house was listed in the Register on November 28, 1978. It was listed under National Register Criteria B and C, and its NRIS number is 78002275.
21. LEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (1920 South Cincinnati Avenue) 1917
Lee Elementary SchoolLee Elementary School opened for classes in January of 1918. It is a stylistic example of Classical Revival architecture. Lee and other schools built at the same time were constructed on the “unit plan” to provide a flexible design that could be adapted to the city’s unpredictable growth. As the population increased, additional units could be built around a central quadrangle used as a playground. This plan is said to have originated in Tulsa. It may have been a coincidence that this plan followed the pattern of the town square of old Creek Tulsa.A four-room apartment located on the roof housed the school’s janitor and his family. Students used a hallway separated from the outside by low railings. Students were exposed to the weather when changing classes until this hallway was enclosed in the 1940s. A large arch bearing the words “Lee Stadium” stands at the north entrance to the school. During the 1920s, Central High School played its football games in the stadium and drew crowds of up to 10,000. Central and the University of Tulsa used the stadium until Skelly Stadium was built around 1920. Junior high school students continued to use the stadium until about 1937, when their games were phased out. The stadium’s athletic importance then ended. Lee’s role in the Tulsa Public Schools’ athletic program faded more than a decade ago, and the stadium was demolished, having become dangerous and too costly to repair. However, remains of showers, locker rooms, and tunnels leading to the field can still be found in the basement. The arch at 19th and Cincinnati remains standing as a reminder of past glories.
22. FARMER HOUSE (2222 South Madison Avenue) 1923
Farmer HouseThis Italianate residence was constructed of high-quality materials for A. L. Farmer. The interior of the house is noted for its connection to the well-known Tulsa designer Lewis Perry. Farmer developed the Sunset Terrace addition in 1924, which is now considered to be the central section of Maple Ridge. An avid Tulsa booster, Farmer was named “Most Useful Citizen” in Tulsa twice in the 1920s for his contributions to the city’s development.
23. HARDY HOUSE (1702 South Madison Avenue) 1918
Hardy HouseThis Prairie School style residence was constructed for Judge Summers Hardy. The total cost of the home and land when built was \$2,300.00. This hipped roof house has unusual false corner pilasters, eave corrubles and hipped pent roofs over windows on each side of the house. The facade is three-ranked with paired windows on each side of both levels. The porch is supported by a brick balustrade and piers under tapered wooden columns. The north side of the house features a brick chimney and a “Chicago” window with a primary centered frame and two smaller windows on each side.Judge Hardy served as a representative to the state Constitutional Convention in Guthrie, prior to statehood, and later became Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. After serving as Chief Justice, Hardy resigned from the bench to accept the position of General Counsel for the Sinclair Oil Companies, moving to Tulsa in 1918. Judge Hardy was also instrumental in founding the Tulsa University Law School, serving as the school’s first Dean from 1943 until 1949.

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