Part I: The House that Escaped Downtown

An American Foursquare is style of residential architecture popular from the mid 1890’s through the 1930’s.  Plain and box shaped, the style was an American response to the complicated, ornate, Victorian revival style popular during the last half of the 19^th Century.  Generally, the homes are 2-2 1/2 stories high with a hipped roof (A roof that peaks in the very center of the square) and dormer windows (windows that peak out from the roof).  The exteriors are usually frame with clapboard or shingles, but can also be brick or stucco.  Symmetrical windows, and a large front porch with supporting columns and wide stairs are prominent.  Inside, the rooms are square and the flow of space is sensible and economical, both to build and maintain.  First-floor dining rooms often feature a bay window to break up the boxy exterior.  Beautiful but functional woodwork such as pocket doors and built in bookcases are common.  Form and function find a balance throughout the structure; these homes are American through and through. 

Our oldest Tulsa neighborhoods, (think Brady Heights and Maple Ridge) are full of Foursquares.  We don’t have many of them in Renaissance and when they do appear, they can seem a bit out of place when contrasted with the diminutive brick gingerbread cottages.  Most, if not all of them, were moved to our neighborhood from elsewhere.  This is the story of one of them. 

This epic tale about a Foursquare in the Renaissance Neighborhood starts over one hundred years ago.  Oklahoma was still Indian Territory and as wild as the West ever was.  This is the story of one house told in three parts. 

According to oral history the Foursquare was originally located at 5th Street and Cincinnati Avenue

This pen and ink enhanced photographic map is dated about 1918.  Red arrows point to the Foursquare. Note the Methodist Episcopal Church to the right of the Foursquare and the domed building across the street is the first Central High School, both built in 1906.  

Aero View of Tulsa, Fowler & Kelly, Smithsonian (Public Domain)

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Part I

The story of this American Foursquare home begins downtown.  In 1904, Mr. W. J. Babar purchased lots 1 & 2 of block 147 in “Original Tulsa Town” from the Creek Nation. The area was the north section of the block that lies between Boston (west) and Cincinnati Avenue (east) and Fifth (north) and Sixth Street (south).  For simplicity, dear reader, we’ll use the address, 116 E. Fifth Street. 

The Sanborn Map Company provided detailed maps of US cities in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries to assess liability for fire in urban areas.  The maps are invaluable for providing an overview of the evolution of urban geography, including buildings. 

It’s difficult to know exactly when the Foursquare at 116 E. Fifth Street was built and by whom.  What we do know is that the 1907 Sanborn Fire map, unlike the 1905 map, clearly shows the two story Foursquare with a dining room bay window at 116. E. Fifth Street.  We can, as a result, deduct that the home was built between 1905 and 1907.   

1905 Sanborn Map shows the old Central High School

across the 5th Street from 116 E 5th Street where the foursquare of built. (Red Ink Mark).  

The 1907 Sandborn Map shows a two story, frame residence with a bay window at 116 E. 5th Street.  

Mr. W. J. Babar owned the property in question from 1904 to about 1906. He may or may not have been the person who built or at least started construction on the Foursquare at 116 E. Fifth Street. I just cannot say for certain. Either way, he’s interesting enough to learn more about because Babar was Tulsa’s first elected chief of police, aka city marshal. 

W. J. Babar served in the elected office of Tulsa City Marshal from April 1906 to August 1907. He term was short because he was suspended for improper conduct and resigned. Then he went into business for himself… the liquor business.

W. J. Babar 

Tulsa City Marshal April 1906- August 1907

Photograph Curtesy of Tulsa Police

The liquor business had been contending with increasingly restrictive regulation and, using hindsight, we all know where things were headed. Although business was likely lucrative, it wasn’t difficult to get into trouble.

Trouble is exactly what happened on July 23, 1914. On a Thursday afternoon three federal officers approached Babar’s residence at 823 W 5th Street with intent to arrest him for violating liquor laws. Babar’s wife met them at the door and refused to let them inside. Behind her stood Babar with a double barrel shotgun. The Marshalls had no warrant, but proceeded to enter. Babar let loose his shotgun. Deputy US Marshals Holmes Davidson and William Plank were shot and killed on the spot. The third, Ike Wilkinson, was able to take cover, but only in the nick of time as Babar had reloaded and continued to shoot. 

Shortly after the gun smoke cleared and all was quiet, Babar called the police station to surrender himself. When officers arrived to take him into custody, they found him calmly lacing up his shoes- no gun in sight. Down at the station he recounted his perspective soberly pointing out the fact that the feds had no warrant and he didn’t have any whiskey, nor did he grant them permission to enter his home. During booking Babar made a special request of the acting police chief. He asked him to prevent media from calling his wife, stating “She will be nearly crazy as it is, I wish you could protect her as best you can.”

The trial of W. J. Babar began in December of 1914. The surviving US Marshall Wilkinson was, of course, a key witness. Another important witness was Babar’s next-door neighbor, a 12-year-old-girl named Hazel Monroe. She heard the shots and had run to her front yard, witnessing much of the ordeal. Her home was also where Marshall Wilkinson had run for cover. 

Another young girl, Babar’s 11-year-old daughter, Pauline, was also present in court. In fact, she sat on her father’s lap for most of the trial. She was observed to stroke his hair and became a great favorite with reporters and court employees. They noted she “is unusually intelligent, remarkably pretty, and makes friends with everyone.”

The first trial resulted in a hung jury. Babar was retried and eventually was sentenced to four years in prison.

And that is the story of the first owner of the property of 116 E. Fifth Street!

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The next important owner, an attorney, was Mr. Granville LaFayette Holt, or “G.L.” Holt as he was known. He owned 116 E. Fifth Street from 1906-1909. Therefore, he is a likely candidate for building the Foursquare at 116 E. Fifth Street. Mr. Holt is very important to the City of Broken Arrow as he helped found the city, served as their city attorney and ran for Mayor in 1906. 

Granville and Sallie Holt

Used with Permission from Barry Holt (Great grandson of G. L Holt)

Holt owned lots of property all over the new state of Oklahoma including in Broken Arrow, Porum, Edmond and Tulsa. He frequently purchased, traded and bartered property and as a result, had more than one residence at a time. 

Another interesting fact found in newspaper archives, was a mention that in 1906, his home was struck by lightning. We can’t know exactly what property this was referring to but it did reportedly cause $100 worth of damage.

In 1908, Holt rented the home at 116 E. Fifth to a widow, Ms. Jennie McMichael. She lived there with her two adult sons. Her son RC worked as a machinist and William was a tool dresser. It is likely that she also took in lodgers at the home.

Photographs of the Boston Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1906 at the Southeast Corner of 5th and Boston Avenue. 

The Foursquare is just visible on 5th Street as indicated by red arrow. 

Date of photographs 1908. Used with permission from Tulsa Historical Society.

In 1916, Holt was part of a detective agency in downtown Tulsa.   

One final note on the life of Mr. Holt. At the age of 63, his son and wife declared him incompetent in a court of law. It is not unlikely that he suffered from dementia and needed supervised care. He was institutionalized at Vinita State Hospital and died not long afterwards in 1920. He is buried at Park Grove Cemetery in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

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Mr. Amos C. Fonda acquired the property from G. L. Holt in about 1909. Although Fonda owned homes and property in Tulsa, he primarily resided in Texas. Judging from his property ownership, Mr. Fonda was financially quite well-off. Being prosperous, he provided for his never married sister, Isabel “Belle” Marie Fonda. Miss Fonda lived at 116 E. Fifth Street from 1910 until 1922 (Tulsa directories and newspaper articles show her at the address each year.) She had an active social life, attending book clubs, bible studies, recitals and hosting social gatherings in the home. 

The 1910 US census shows that Miss Fonda had three borders or “lodgers” who certainly would have helped with a bit of income. The 1920 Census shows her with seven lodgers, four women and three men. The women were teachers and men worked in oil, gas and accounting.

Downtown Tulsa was booming during this time. In the ten years between 1910 and 1920 the population swelled from 18,000 to 72,000. Tulsa’s first high school had been built on 4th and Boston, just across the street from the Foursquare. (Perhaps this is where Miss Fonda’s female lodgers taught.) The three story, gold domed building was Tulsa’s only high school from 1906 through 1917. In 1917 a new high school building was erected at 6th and Cincinnati and still stands today as the Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s (PSO) headquarters. The residential areas of Tulsa were spreading out in all directions from downtown. Even our neighborhood began to have some its first platted additions springing up. As a result of all these considerations, Fonda made the astute decision to sell the Foursquare and build an office building at 116 E. Fifth. In 1923 he applied for a permit to build a three-story brick building on the lot. The Sanborn firemaps indicate the three-story brick building was in place by 1924. Therefore, we can comfortably reason that the Foursquare was moved between 1923 and 1924.

Tulsa Daily Legal News, November 1923

See the red ink marking 116 E 5th Street. In may be hard to read from this image but a three-story brick building is now on the site. 

Writing on the Sanborn Map states "Built in 1924"

Isabel moved to a large brick home next to 116 E. Fifth, (504 S. Cincinnati directly across from Trinity Church.) She never married. Mr. Fonda died in 1937 and, incidentally, his will listed 1125 S. Birmingham Avenue as one of his assets.  Miss Fonda died at the age of 80 in 1940 in Dallas, Texas but death certificate lists her residence as Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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This is the concludes the downtown life of the American Foursquare at 116 E. 5th Street. Stay tuned for parts II & III in the coming weeks. 

Original green enamel gas wall heaters from the home are stamped 1908.

References

Most of the research for this post comes from the Tulsa Property Deed Index, Property Abstract, Sanborn Maps, US Census Data, Tulsa Directories 1908-1926, Tulsa Historical Society and Tulsa Police Department.

Thanks to P. Casey Morgan for editing.