1515 N. Lincoln
This house of rather grand "seven bay" scale is a simple neo-classic revival style in stucco and red Spanish tiled hipped roof. Each bay has a set of French doors with fan light above on the first floor, mirrored at the top with a window and similar fan light. The main entrance has a French door flanked with side lights capped with a fan light under a simple Doric order porch. The Lincoln Boulevard frontage rests on a full-length terrace garden fenced with a simple Greek designed wrought iron.
Q.E. Burkheart 1926-1927
Wirt Franklin 1929-1940
Evert P. Rhead 1941-1947
Charles Diaz 1948
Wm. M. Parker 1949-1959
Dr. Wm. R. Richardson 1960-1964
This property's most famous resident was Wirt Franklin, a prominent state and national figure. Franklin was born in Richmond, MO. After law school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Franklin served as stenographer and law clerk under the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes at Muskogee. He moved to Ardmore and opened a private law practice. From 1913 to his death, Franklin was in the oil business. He was founder of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA).
Franklin was also one of the discoverers of the Healdton Oilfield, one of the first in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Petroleum Council made its first award for "Outstanding Oklahoma Oilman" to Wirt Franklin in 1961 on the basis of his contributions to the development of the petroleum industry in Oklahoma, as well as his contributions to his community, state and nation. Franklin frequented Washington, D.C., fighting for tariffs on foreign oil and refined products, thus protecting Oklahoma's petroleum industry.
Mrs. Evert P. Rhea was the daughter of Mrs. Wirt Franklin.
Mr. Parker was a banker.
Dr. Richardson was a pediatric surgeon for the O.U. Medical School. His wife, Sylvia, was a pediatrician at the University of Oklahoma Child Study Center.