Home Histories

As with its neighbor, 619 N.E. 14th, the house at 625 is older than others in the area. It has bright red brick and a hipped roof dominated by a central dormer window. There is a brick pillared porch in front with the original beveled glass door opening onto it. The east wing has a porte-cochere leading to a garage behind.

H. L. Bolen 1918-63

Hubert L. Bolen was a prominent state political figure and candidate for governor in 1938. He was campaign manager for ill-fated Gov. Henry S. Johnston, and later broke with Johnston in a move that ultimately contributed to Johnston's impeachment and expulsion from office in the 1920s.

Among his other accomplishments, Bolen was chairman of the charter committee which drafted a council management charter for Oklahoma City during the same decade.

An attorney, Bolen became active in Oklahoma politics almost from the day he arrived from Virginia. He managed Senator Robert L. Owen's successful campaign against C.N. Haskell, and after that notable primary, was chosen to handle the state campaign in the fall.

During the eight years of President Woodrow Wilson's administration, Bolen made a great record for himself as state collector of internal revenue. Many collectors and deputies came to Oklahoma to study Bolen's handling of the federal taxes originating during World War I.

As a "Hoover Democrat" during President Herbert Hoover's Administration, Bolen got the unique distinction of having been, in the words of the Daily Oklahoman, Washington correspondent, "one of the few if not the only Oklahoman who has informed a president of the United States that he did not have a position at his disposal in which he was interested." This occurred after Bolen refused any reward for managing Hoover's campaign in the state in the presidential election of 1928.

After Bolen's break with Gov. Johnston, he told the press that a "legislature should be elected that will thoroughly investigate all charges and impeach and convict any official who has committed a crime or an impeachable offense." Shortly thereafter, the legislature did just that.

Bolen was State Treasurer under Gov. E.W. Marland in the late 1930s. He also headed at one time the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Bolen's son, Ralph L. Bolen, became an Oklahoma City civic leader in his own right, as well as owner of a prominent downtown automobile dealership.