The Safe That Had a House Built Around It

Cassie and Travis
Bungalow ~2300 sq feet
3 bedroom/2.5 bath
Interviewed on March 20, 2017
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Cassie and Travis recount their 2007 house hunting experience and Cassie says she wasn't exactly sold on the idea of home ownership. They had been living in a loft in downtown Tulsa and she wasn't sure she wanted to leave. Nevertheless, they started looking and saw about nine houses before they found the one. Travis had shown Cassie on-line pictures of the listing and she wasn't impressed. On first blush, the walk-through didn't change her mind. The dining room was "Pepto-Bismal pink" and "so many strange decisions had been made.” But before they realized it, they were mentally moving in.  “The dining room table can go here.  This is our bedroom…,”  Cassie said, “It had good bones.”    The tall ceilings throughout and the basement especially sold them.  (More about these later.)  Even though they were scheduled to leave on vacation the very same day they saw the house, they wrote a check, were dropped at the airport, and were reeling from how fast it had all happened.

By the time they bought the house, none of the original light fixtures or door hardware remained.  They suspect that the front porch originally stretched across the entire front of the home and the south-end was likely enclosed in the 1950’s.  The kitchen had been updated and the knob and tube wiring had been replaced.  One of the unique features (for the Renaissance Neighborhood [RN]) of this home is a full basement.  But this isn’t just any basement.  Half of the basement is finished with laundry space, half-bath and (insert drum roll here) a movie room complete with theater seating, soundproofing, surround sound, huge screen TV and a wet bar. 

Another interesting feature in the basement is a huge safe that has the label, Diamond Drug Store.  It is in the unfinished half of the basement and was locked tight when they moved in.  The previous owners hadn’t had access either.  Cassie did a little research.  She learned that Diamond Drug Store was located at 15 E 2^nd Street in downtown Tulsa in the nineteen teens.  It was owned/operated by a W. P. Miles and the establishment had quite a reputation.  Documents recount "a round up of saloons disguised as drug stores"  in which at least five establishments, including Diamond Drug Store were busted.  W. P.  Miles was charged, fined and sentenced to six months in jail.  See some information about this here.  A murder also took place there in November, 1914 following a conflict related to a missing whiskey barrel.  See some of that history here.  During his time of legal trouble, W. P. Miles transferred property and assets to his wife, Yonnie Miles and their daughter, Jessie.   

It was a few years before Cassie and Travis consulted a safe-cracker, who came out to take a look. While he was there, Cassie wondered aloud about how the safe even got into the basement in the first place. The safe-cracker responded that, without a doubt, the house was built around the safe. It was too big and too heavy to have been brought down.  They also learned it was nearly cost prohibitive to have it opened.  However, they came up with a creative solution.  They threw a speakeasy-themed party in which guests paid ten dollars each to have a go at opening the safe.  Had any of them been successful, they would have kept all the money.  (But not anything found in the safe!) If no one was successful, all the money would go towards paying the safe-cracker.  

Huge safe in the unfinished half of the basement.

Document declaring land allotted to the Creek Tribe in 1852.

Roll number for Ms. Perryman, she was 8 years old at time of enrollment.

Ms. Perryman sold what was probably part of her allotment to a timber company and then property passed through a few other owners. Then, in 1912, Mr. W. P. Miles, of Diamond Drug Store, bought the property. Miles obtained a quit claim deed from Ms. Perryman to ensure the land was his, free and clear. (She had several name changes due to marriages, but signed the document giving up all claim to the property.)

Quit claim deed obtained by W. P. Miles from Ms. Perryman in 1924.  

In 1925, W. P. Miles built the home on a large lot, apparently around the safe from his downtown drug store.  He then platted (mapped) the remaining acreage and advertised the sale of lots ready with electric and water.

This document shows the platted lots established by W. P. Miles.

In cleaning their garage this spring, Cassie and Travis found these boards which advertise the lots for sale.

Original sign boards advertising lots for sale in what is now RN
Note: They are huge!  I took this picture standing on a twelve foot ladder! 

They also found some interesting hatch marks carved into one wall of the garage.

Hatch marks found on garage wall- could they be bootlegged whiskey?

Now, back to the safe in the basement.  Although their speakeasy party sounded like a success, no one could open the safe that night.  True to the plan, Cassie and Travis had the safe-cracker back.  They didn’t find treasure inside, but they did find a shot glass, a mirror, and an old milk-glass light shade.

Beautiful interior of the old safe.

Since living in the home, Cassie and Travis have refinished the pine floors, replaced a few large windows and several exterior doors. They have done a lot of painting and put in new light fixtures, door hardware and a few new sinks. The video and stereo equipment in the movie room has been upgraded. Currently, they are cleaning and rewiring the garage and have plans to tile their sun room.

When asked about dreams/goals for the home, they say they would love to put in period-appropriate hardwood floors. Unfortunately, their original pine floors cannot be refinished again and don't have a sub-floor underneath. More windows may need replacing and they have discussed the viability of finishing the attic. "We work to strike a balance between doing the things that need done and working on our projects," says Cassie.

Cassie and Travis have found they really value the rich history that their home has, particularly since it wasn't something that either of them experienced in the homes they grew up in. Other things they really appreciate are the ten-foot ceilings and the formal dining room. Cassie also loves the original pocket doors between the living and dining room, and Travis loves the size of the lot, which is larger than most in RN; nearly 1/3rd of an acre.

Pocket doors from living room looking into dining room.

  

“I don’t have a problem with making bold cosmetic choices" says Cassie as she gestures toward the black walls of her dining room,  "but when it comes to the bones of the house I feel like we have this responsibility to be decent stewards.” 

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1230 S. Birmingham Avenue property heritage as told to me by Cassie and Travis

• US Government deeds to tribal member, Addie Perryman
• 2-3 owners, one a timber company
• W.P. Miles
• Jessie Miles (WP's daughter, she sold the house after her parents died)
• Cassie and Robert Schroeder (Cassie passed away and then Robert married Patricia. They lived in the home until about 1997.)
• Neighbor guy (No one can remember his name but he lived at 1230 while he built the new home just south at 1234 S Birmingham Ave)  He sold the home in 2002.
• Darby and Valerie Ransom (carved their names in the post in the basement.)
• Cassie and Travis

Big thanks for reading my first Renaissance Neighborhood house post!
I hope you enjoyed it and will continue to follow the histories that unfold here.
Thanks to Marsha, Walter and Cassie for editing.
And the biggest thank you to Cassie and Travis for sharing all this information with us!