Our old houses

Who needs Bob Vila when you’ve got Earl Strebeck?

Vila was the iconic host for the syndicated television show “This Old House,” as well as two similar iterations that appreciated the heritage of historic homes.

Strebeck doesn’t have a TV show, but he is president of the Sequoyah County Historical Society, so chronicling edifices from yesteryear is right up his alley.

To that end, Strebeck has selfpublished a compilation of Sallisaw’s architectural grande dames appropriately titled “Old Houses of Sallisaw and Their Builders.”

“Every old home and the people who built them have stories to tell,” Strebeck writes in the introduction to his treatise. And after 20 years of photographing and recording information about the old homes of Sallisaw, he has compiled his findings in an 84page compendium that provides a look into the genesis of many historic dwellings that are often the subject of discussion, if not curiosity.

“I felt if I don’t collect this information and record it, it will be lost forever,” Strebeck says of the impetus for his undertaking.

But he is quick to acknowledge that “establishing the dates of when houses were built was difficult.” In short, Strebeck did the best he could, but don’t hold him to dates that have been lost to history. “My work is only to provide a good, and hopefully reliable, history of the old houses of Sallisaw.”

Among the resources from which he pursued his research were the medium of the day, because “old Sallisaw newspapers are a wonderful source of information.” And characteristic of any true historian, Strebeck admits he is still collecting, and he still has unfinished information and pictures that did make it into his current book.

“If I live long enough, I might do another volume,” he says.

Strebeck takes a methodical approach to chronicling Sallisaw’s history and contributions to eastern Oklahoma, in general, and Sequoyah County, in particular. He points out that until 1888, Sallisaw was called Childers Station, which was a stagecoach stop on a branch route between Fort Smith and Muskogee. Established after the Civil War, Childers Station consisted of a log cabin stage stop, a mercantile and a church that doubled as a school.

But when the Kansas & Arkansas Valley railroad, now the Union Pacific, reached from Fort Smith to Childers Station, the evolving community became Sallisaw. “The railroad not only created Sallisaw, but it became the outlet to the rest of the county,” Strebeck writes. “It brought in the mail, all kinds of supplies and new people. Sallisaw soon took on a rapid growth.”

And people started building houses, some that are still standing.

Homes that survive

Some homes that have survived, but look much different than the original, include “the oldest house in Sallisaw,” which was built in 1872. It is located at 608 N. Harriet Street, near the hospital.

Other homes look much like they did when built, including:

Delaney-Agent House, 320 E. Ida Avenue

• Delaney-Agent House, 320 E. Ida Avenue at Wheeler Avenue — The “elegant residence” was built about 1901. It has been the home to the Sullivans, Delaneys, Blairs, Drakes and Agents. Since 1944, the house has been home to four generations of the Agent family.

Herring House, 404 S. Wheeler Avenue

• Herring House, 404 S. Wheeler Avenue — The house “considered one of the most beautiful homes in Sallisaw” was built in 1902. Frank and Kitty Herring purchased the home in 1935 and owned it for almost 50 years, during which time the couple “made the grounds around the house the most beautiful in Sallisaw.” Early owners of the home were Vinnie Curtis, who married Lester Tilden Gilbert, then attorney J.H. Jarman. “The house today remains as beautiful as ever, and it is one of Sallisaw’s most outstanding examples of late Victorian architecture,” Strebeck writes.

W.D. Mayo House, 405 E. Ida Avenue

• W.D. Mayo House, 405 E. Ida Avenue at Wheeler Avenue — Built in 1903, the Mayos lived in the home for 60 years. Like the Herrings across the street, Jessie Mayo “made the grounds of her home one of the most beautiful in town.” The home is no longer owned by the Mayo family, and has fallen into disrepair. “Everyone wonders why can’t it be restored,” Strebeck writes.

Browne-Foreman House, 411 S. Wheeler Avenue

• Browne-Foreman House, 411 S. Wheeler Avenue — Built in 1904, the house “was one of the largest in Sallisaw,” and “its appearance, size and location commanded awe.” The two-story Queen Anne Victorian featured a wraparound front porch that encompassed a gazebo, and a turret with a pointed spiral roof towered over the facade before a fierce wind storm in 1944 claimed the turret. The home was built by Judge W.H. Browne, who died in 1913. His daughter, Kitty, married Alex Foreman. Kitty lived in the house until the 1960s, and the house was sold in 1971.

Shackelford House, 321 S. Wheeler Avenue

• Shackelford House, 321 S. Wheeler Avenue — Built in 1906, it is “one of the most colorful houses in Sallisaw.” The Victorian home “may be the only house in Sallisaw that has a balcony.” The Shackelfords lived in the house until 1916. The house has changed hands several times, “but it never fails to attract the attention of anyone driving on Wheeler Avenue.”

Mabray House, 518 S. Wheeler Avenue

• Mabray House, 518 S. Wheeler Avenue — Built in 1908, the two-story brick house is believed to be the largest brick home in Sallisaw, with more than 15 rooms. The Mabray family owned the home until 1995.

Whitsett-Spear House, 721 N. Maple Street

• Whitsett-Spear House, 721 N. Maple Street — Built in 1909, the house has late Queen Anne details and a wraparound porch with Colonial columns. The house looks much the same as it did when the Whitsetts built it in 1909. The house was purchased by the Spears in 1941. Strebeck, the Spears’ grandnephew, has lived in the house since 1992.

C.Q. Cherry House, 503 S. Wheeler Avenue

• C.Q. Cherry House, Chickasaw Avenue at Oak Street — Built in 1902, the house was torn down in the 1990s to make room for a parking lot for the Sequoyah County Courthouse. In 1910, C.Q. Cherry then built a two-story brick house at 503 S. Wheeler Avenue, which “was considered the best and one of the most beautiful home on the avenue.” In the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, the house was sold in 1933.

• Hartley-Cassidy House, 319 N. Maple Street — Built in 1910, the Hartleys, the original owners, suffered financially, and the house was sold at a sheriff’s auction in 1914. In 1937, the Cassadys purchased the home and lived there for more than 50 years. Today, the house is in disrepair.

Capps House, 321 S. Locust

• Capps House, 321 S. Locust — Built in 1912, “the handsome residence” was considered “one of the most commodious and stylish homes in Sallisaw,” according to the Sallisaw Star Gazette newspaper. The twostory Craftsman styled house utilized the Prairie stye made famous by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Early owners of the house were the Herrings, Wessons and Carlisles. The Cappses didn’t purchase the home until 1951, and lived in it until the 1990s.

Rhodes House, 519 S. Wheeler Avenue

W.N. Agent House, 420 S. Wheeler

• Rhodes House, 519 S. Wheeler Avenue — Built in 1906, the Dutch Colonial was built by Charles Rhodes. The Rhodes sold the house in 1911, and it changed hands several times.

• W.N. Agent House, 420 S. Wheeler — Built in 1911, the original house was called “one of our beauty spots in the residential district” by the Sequoyah County Democrat. The Agents lived in the house from 1922 until the house was moved in 1937 to make room for the construction of a Tudor style brick house. The family lived there until the 1960s.

Those that didn’t survive

Among the homes Strebeck chronicles are some that have not survived to the 21st century and “are just a memory.”

• Thornton-Frye House, “probably the largest house build in its time,” which was located south of the presentday Carl Albert State College campus.

• Quesenbury House, a Queen Anne style house that featured a spiral roof, eight bedrooms and 12-foot ceilings. It was situated on the east side of U.S. 59, north of U.S. 64.

• William Watie Wheeler House, originally named The Oaks because of the giant oak trees that surrounded it, was located at 830 E. Chickasaw Place, just west of Dogwood Street. Strebeck says it featured massive halls, elaborate wood trims, a grand staircase and a front parlor called the Gold Room, because “everything was done in shades of gold.”

• Perry-Mattox House, South Wheeler Avenue between Choctaw and Chickasaw. Kate Perry, referred to by the Sallisaw Star newspaper as “one of Sallisaw’s good people,” lived in “her handsome new cottage” until 1934, when it was purchased by Ollie Mattox. The house was eventually torn down and became the site of a Ford dealership.

• G.W. Starr House, 410 S. Walnut Street — Built in 1907, the two-story house “was considered one of the finest homes on the southside of Sallisaw.” It burned in 1924.

• Loggains House, Chickasaw Avenue at Oak Street, where the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office now stands — Believed to have been built in the 1890s, it was a rather plain small house.

Strebeck will be at the Sequoyah County Historical Society Museum, 200 E. Creek Avenue, on Wednesdays for those interested in purchasing his book. For questions, call the museum at 775-6281.