Overholser Mansion(20)
- Jonathan Elmore
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 10
OKLAHOMA CITY
I'm always amazed to find out cool information whether it's music trivia, the origins of a word, or a historical fact. So it was awesome to go see the Overholser Mansion near downtown Oklahoma City because I learned quite a few interesting facts about the family that lived in the house and some Okie history as well.
I showed up early, as so often I do, to one of the daily tours of the Mansion. While I waited for my turn to see the house, I roamed the grounds and took a few pictures. I checked the surrounding neighborhood a little bit too. I've driven through that area before to see the oversized houses that line the streets. Little did I realize, those houses were built much later than the one I was about to see. The Heritage Hills neighborhood was built up because Henry Overholser challenged people to outdo his house. As you can see when you drive up, people tried their best. Another interesting connection I made was when I went to The Harn Homestead earlier this year, I learned that William Harn sold the land that would become the Heritage Hills neighborhood. And William and Henry were in the earliest stages of Oklahoma City at roughly the same time. They had to know each other, right? The mansion is in a posh area now, but at the time it was being built, it was in the country. My how things change!
Anyway, back to the mansion. A small group of us were escorted through the first floor by our wonderful tour guide Shelley. She is the museum's director and was a wealth of information. I was taking notes at the back of the group when I glanced over at one guy staring at me like I had horns. Sorry, bud. I'm a museum nerd. Please ignore me. Ha! The house was started in 1902 and finished in 1903. When it was finished, Anna Overholser had an English painter come in and stencil borders around all the downstairs rooms. The stencil used in the dining room matched the fine china that she had. Nice touch!
I spent the next half hour or so roaming the halls of this fabulous residence and the adjacent carriage house, which has been converted to a meeting room and office space. The way the house is set up gives you a real sense of how the Father of Oklahoma City lived in the days before we were even a state and long after. The antiques, artwork, stained glass, music instruments, and record players let you know they loved to entertain guests and they did it quite well. A few facts that stuck out for me since I've been in theatre and music most of my life was that Henry built the first opera house and theatre in Oklahoma City. He brought multiple rail cars full of lumber from Ohio when they moved here. In a short amount of time, he had built essentially and entire block of two-story buildings while nearly everyone else was still doing business out of tents. So, in my eyes, Henry was smart, a little psychic, and knew he was ready to make a fortune in a brand new city.
I won't tell you everything I learned from Shelley because I would love for you to go see this great Oklahoma landmark. Schedule your tour on line and take in some Okie history.
405 NW 15th, Oklahoma City
405-525-5325
Jonathan Elmore ©2025
