Durrett, J. R. (1881 - 1957) -- J. R. Durrett Investment Co., real estate, ranching

This fairytale home at 2202 S. Tyler was once owned by J. R. Durrett (2 Mar 1881 - Jun 1957). The house was built in 1925, and I think it has been in the Durret/Hays family ever since.

I am not sure if it was this house or another nearby, but a few years ago I saw some interior photos of a house in this neighborhood that showed a large living room with a beautifully ornate doomed ceiling. I am not sure, but maybe the whole living room was oval. It was beautiful. I wish I could remember which house it was.

Anyway, J. R. Durrett was described in an undated article in the Amarillo Daily News as follows:

"J. R. Durrett, a large land owner of Armstrong County, was born March 2, 1881, in Lampasas, Texas, and was educated in Belton, and at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene. In the early 1900's he taught school and was principal of the school at McLean. It was there that he met and married Vern Teel, the daughter of G. J. Teel. From McLean he went to Clarendon where he continued to teach school. In Clarendon he also began to deal in real estate."

"He came to Miami, Texas where he was in the insurance business and bought and sold real estate. He then came to Amarillo in 1923 and has been engaged in extensive investments both in town and farming property in the Panhandle."

"He operated the J. R. Durrett Investment Co. in the Paramount Bldg. in partnership with his son Delmar and son-in-law McDonald Hays. Following the death of Eldon in a highway accident in 1950, Mr. Durrett established for his son the Eldon Durrett Memorial Scholarships. The initial amount of the fund was established at $30,000 to be used by young men of Amarillo to achieve a higher education. The Durrett family home is 2202 Tyler, Amarillo, where Mrs. Durrett lives following her husband's death June 1957."

Also, the Arts and Commerce building at Amarillo College was renamed J. R. Durrett Hall on July 7, 1958 in memory of Mr. Durrett, who died in June 1957.

2202 Tyler St. -- built in 1925

2202 Tyler St. -- built in 1925

2202 Tyler St. -- built in 1925

2202 Tyler St. -- built in 1925

 

Burkett, Ben C. (1888 - 10 Jul 1956) -- Owner of Burkett Paper Co.

Benjamin Clinton Burkett was an Amarillo businessman whose interests included the Burkett Paper Company, a wholesale paper distributing company that was located at 1015 S. Polk Street. He and his wife Ione Burkett (1900 - 1987) came to Amarillo in June 1931 and began building their business. They lived at 2101 S. Lipscomb.

Ben C. Burkett was the father of Benjamin Burkett II, who went to work for at Shamrock Oil and Gas Corporation in 1960 and later become an assistant to Mesa Petroleum president T. Boone Pickens.

1015 S. Polk Street, once the home of Burkett Paper Co.

Article clipped from the 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

Ad clipped from the Aug 14 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

Ben C. Burkett home at 2101 S. Lipscomb

Ben C. Burkett home at 2101 S. Lipscomb

1010 S. Jefferson St. - Once home to Mr. Earl Vandale

This house at 1010 S. Jefferson St., right across from Ellwood Park, was built in 1904, which means it is 110 years old. I am not sure who the original owner of the house was, but it was listed as the address of a Thomas Franklin O'Kane in the "Official List of Officers of the Officers Reserve Corps of the Army of the United States" for the year 1919. I do not know if he owned the house or was just boarding there.

Mr. McKane was born in Alda, Nebraska on 18 January 1891. He enlisted in the 7th Texas National Guard in Amarillo, Texas in May 1917. He was sent to Camp Bowie, Texas, where he made sergeant. Then on 1 January 1918, Sgt. McKane was sent to officers' school, where he was commissioned as a Lieutenant. He was then sent to Camp Stewart, Texas, where he was assigned to Company F of the 143 Infantry Division. In August 1918, he arrived in France, where he was sent to the Front. I do not know if he was killed in action or not, but he was cited for bravery. He was the son of Daniel and Anna (Mitchell) O'Kane of Wood River, Nebraska.

By 1929, the house was the home of a Mr. Earl Vandale, who came to Amarillo in 1925 as a buyer for the Magnolia Petroleum Company. He lived in Amarillo until his death in 1952.

By April 1946, the house had become the home of a Mr. Jack Nichols, and by 1948, a Mrs. Hazel Nichols was living in the house with her two daughters, Nancy and Dawn Nichols. In 1961 the house was featured in the Amarillo Globe Times, which included some photos of the home. Mrs. Hazel M. Nichols was still living in the house at the time.

Link to information on Mr. Earl Vandale

Home at 1010 S. Jefferson St., built in 1904

Home at 1010 S. Jefferson St., built in 1904

Home at 1010 S. Jefferson St., built in 1904

 

2122 S. Harrison - the old Toney Chisum Home - Built in 1925

When I was researching the Amarillo automobile dealer Toney Chisum, who lived in Amarillo from 1916 until his death in 1944, I wanted to know not only where his business was located, but also where his home was located. I found out that he lived at 2022 S. Harrison Street in 1926, but I could not find that address on Google Maps, so I then checked the old Sanborn Insurance maps for the year 1921 and found that houses south of 21st & Harrison were unexplainably numbered 20** instead of 21**. In more recent times, however, the city of Amarillo has apparently changed the addresses for that area causing 2022 S. Harrison to become 2122 S. Harrison. I have been told by a relative of a previous owner of the house that Toney Chisum was, indeed, once the owner of the house, which was built in 1925.

Information on Amarillo automobile distributor Toney Chisum (22 Dec 1885 - 6 Oct 1944)

Oliver-Eakle Addition - ad from the 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

Ad from the 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe




1938 photos of places within the Oliver-Eakle Addition




This house at 2803 S. Polk Street was built in 1939. It is the same house that appears in the foreground of the second photo in the 1938 ad.

Sneed, Joseph Tyre, Jr. -- Once lived at 2123 S. Harrison St.

This magnificent house at 2123 South Harrison Street was once the home of cattle baron Joseph Tyre Sneed, Jr., who bought one third of the vast LX Ranch holdings when the ranch was liquidated in 1906. The two men who bought the other two thirds of the ranch were Robert Benjamin Masterson and Lee Bivins. I have heard the house is now, or soon will be, on the market.

The house was built in 1920 and has a pool and an apartment in the backyard. I have also been told this house will be on the home tour that will be given on September 7, between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The story of Joseph Sneed is interesting, but the story of his brother John Beal Sneed is even more interesting because it involves, at least, two murders, one of a man who supposedly had a romantic relationship with John's wife, and the other of the man's father, who was accused of helping his son run off with John's wife.

The father of the man who had the affair with John's wife was shot in the lobby of the Metropolitan Hotel in Forth Worth, Texas in January 1912, and nine months later the son was shot in front of the Polk Street Methodist Church here in Amarillo. John's wife was sent to a sanitarium in Fort Worth to be treated for "moral insanity," but after she was cured, she came back and lived a long life with her husband.

The first link is to the story of Joseph Sneed. The second link is to the Texas State Historical Association story of the murders involving John Sneed, which is referred to as the "Boyce-Sneed Feud." The third link is to the Wikipedia story of the feud.

1) Story of Joseph Tyre Sneed, Jr.
2) Story of John Beal Sneed and the Boyce-Sneed Feud
3) Wikipedia's version of the Boyce-Sneed Feud

The old Joseph Sneed Home at 2123 S. Harrison St.

The old Joseph Sneed Home at 2123 S. Harrison St.

The old Joseph Sneed Home at 2123 S. Harrison St.

The old Joseph Sneed Home at 2123 S. Harrison St.

Cornelius, Mayvi Amarillo -- First child born in Amarillo

The house in the photo below was the Tuck Cornelius House. It located at 303 E. 4th Ave. (4th & Fillmore). It was originally built in Old Town Amarillo in 1887 at 309 Parker St., but was moved to 4th & Fillmore in 1889 by using logs. The house was still standing at 4th & Fillmore in 1938, but has since been demolished, leaving only a small group of trees to mark the spot. Before it was demolished, it was the oldest existing house in Amarillo.

The significance of the Tuck Cornelius House is that it was home of the first child to be born in Amarillo. The child was born on July 18, 1888 and was named Mayvi Amarillo Cornelius. She is pictured below with her pet antelope. There is also a photo of her and her husband in 1938. Tuck was Mayvi's father.

I have also posted a 14 Aug 1938 article about Mayvi Amarillo and her family.

Tuck Cornelius house was located at 303 E. 4th Ave (4th & Fillmore)

Photo shows the corner of 4th & Fillmore where the Tuck Cornelius house once stood.

Clipped from 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

Clipped from 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

Clipped from 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

 

1611 S. Harrison Street -- House built in 1915

Built in 1915, this was the home of a Mr. L. H. Hauter in 1938

Bivins Addition

Clipped from the 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

From 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe

1616 S. Tyler - Childhood Home of Hollywood Actress Cyd Charisse

This house at 1616 S. Tyler Street was built in 1913. It was the childhood home of Tula Ellice Finklea, better known as Cyd Charisse.

Cyd Charisse was born in Amarillo, Texas on March 8, 1922 as Tula Ellice Finklea. Her father Ernest Enos Finklea, Sr, was a jeweler in Amarillo. Cyd Charisse became a dancer and actress who played in such films as "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Band Wagon." She died in Los Angeles, California on June 17, 2008.

1616 S. Tyler, Amarillo, TX -- Childhood home of Cyd Charisse

1616 S. Tyler, Amarillo, TX -- Childhood home of Cyd Charisse

1921 Sanborn Insurance Map Shows the Home at 1616 S. Tyler



Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse

 



Sanborn House at 1311 S. Madison -- built in 1903

The house in the black & white photo was built in 1903 for Henry Bradley Sanborn, the founder of Amarillo. It was originally located at 600 S. Buchannan Street, but was moved to 1311 S. Madison to allow the land at 600 S. Buchannan to be used as the site for the Amarillo Municipal Auditorium, which was built in 1923.

Old photo of Sanborn House

Sanborn House today

Sanborn House Historical Marker

Sanborn House was moved to make way for the Municipal Auditorium

House at 1912 S. Tyler, built in 1923

This neat-looking house at 1912 S. Tyler Street was built in 1923 and was the home of a Mr. J. Ray and his family, which included his son George Ray, the editor of the Amarillo Globe at one time. The elder Ray was a real estate investor whose interests included important office and business buildings on Polk Street and oil fields in surrounding Panhandle towns.

He also owned and operated the Hereford Brand newspaper for a short while and founded the Vernon Record newspaper in 1907.

I have posted a newspaper article on Mr. J. Ray from the 14 August 1938 edition of the Amarillo Sunday News-Globe.

House at 1912 S. Tyler Street

House at 1912 S. Tyler Street



Article from the 14 August 1938 edition of the Amarillo Sunday News-Globe