History | Brick's Garden Exchange

The History of 4027

- The 1910s -

Dr. Earp & the Early Years

The brick two story house was built as a residence in 1909-1910 by Dr. J. H. Earp. Dr. Earp was a real estate man and politician who ran (and lost) for Oklahoma City Council in 1910, the year he built 4027. Earp was active in Democrat politics in Oklahoma City, later running for sheriff twice, and leading the Jacksonian Club as president. Dr. Earp died in 1922 and is buried at Fairlawn Cemetery.

- The 1940s -

Street Car Expansion

The house is built in the American Foursquare style, sitting prominently at the top of the hill in the Putnam Heights Addition. Its distinctive round porch overlooked the 40th Street Junction, where the El Reno Interurban Line intersected with the Belle Isle Line of the Oklahoma Railway Company. The Belle Isle line extended from downtown Oklahoma City to the Belle Isle Amusement park, and then to the towns of Britton, Edmond, and Guthrie.

The El Reno Interurban ran west from Classen Boulevard in between 40th and 41st Streets, in a wide right-of-way behind the houses on those streets. There was a bridge elevating the railway above Georgia Avenue, two blocks west of Classen, and the bridge extended over the Deep Fork Creek and then intersected with 39th Street, where the line then ran out to the towns of Bethany, Yukon and then El Reno. The El Reno Interurban ceased operation in 1946, The Belle Isle line followed in 1947. Several early photographs exist of the 40th Street Junction, two of which feature a portion of the round porch of 4027 in the frame. Another photo looks south from the junction to the apartment house that is now the Bradford House hotel.

- The 1960s to Today -

A Bright Future

In the 1960’s many of the homes on Classen Boulevard were destroyed to make way for commercial development. Thankfully the house at 4027 survived this era, and was converted to commercial use in 1962 as the Eacock-McFall Insurance Agency. In 1977 Dr. Boyd Lester purchased 4027, where he then practiced Psychiatry until his retirement in 2011. Dr. Lester’s daughter opened the Yoga Room, and then later The Fringe Art Gallery occupied the space.

The current owners purchased 4027 from Dr. Lester’s family in October of 2019 and have continued 4027’s long adaptation for survival with the Brick’s Garden Exchange project, with the goal that this beautiful house stands at the 40th Street Junction for another 110 years and beyond.