Home Histories

626 N.E. 15th Street

626_15th_med

This house has a white painted brick four square high pitched roof and simple wood entrance porch supported by Doric columns.

Hector Anderson 1928-32, 1941-62
Roy J. Turner

Former Governor Roy J. Turner, who at one time owned and lived in this home, left his mark on Oklahoma as a success in three fields -- oil, cattle and politics. He died in June, 1973.

The son of a Lincoln County farmer, Turner began buying and selling real estate at the end of World War One. His Harper-Turner Oil Company, by the end of 1954, was producing wells in six states. In the early 1930s, Turner began building his world-famous 10,000 acre ranch and developing fine Hereford cattle. A pioneer in modern irrigation and crop-growing methods, he hosted thousands of 4-H and Future Farmers of America youth at field days on the ranch.

In 1946, he was elected to become Oklahoma's 13th governor after resigning a post on the Oklahoma City Board of Education.

During his four-year term, the state witnessed the consolidation of schools, enlargement of the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, re-structuring of the state highway commission to give all areas representation, and the building of the Turner Turnpike -- which in later life he would call his "monument."

The governor also headed a statewide campaign to establish the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

Although he failed in 1954 in his attempt to unseat the late Senator Robert S. Kerr, he remained until his death one of the most popular political figures in the state's history.