Homes of Olney

The Olney Independent School District had two blocks in a prime housing area with the Roosevelt Elementary School building on a brick-paved street. The school system had planned after World War I was over to build Olney High School on this site and that is why the brick paved streets were laid out the way they were. The 1923 Oil Boom came along just in time to avoid building the high school on the Roosevelt site and to instead build on Hamilton Street for the high school. OISD laid out the plat for residential development on the site of Roosevelt and conducted the sale of the lots. In 1941, the OISD sold Lot 4 Block 2 to D.R. Criswell for $650 and World War II probably kept the Criswells from building. In 1948, Criswell sold the lot to “Newt” Harris for $2,125 who had really hit it big in the local oil patch as a wildcatter during the war. Harris died in 1950 without building on the lot and I.W. Shirey, Harris’ bookkeeper as administrator of the estate, sold the property to W.B. Lewis for $1,850. Harris’ widow, Mildred, had to sign a confirming document.

One month later, Will Morris Hannis, Jr. bought the property for the same $1,850 from Lewis. In 1951, Will Morris and his wife Bettye (Holland) sold the lot to Will’s father and mother–Erline (Roach) and Morris Hannis for $2,000. Morris proceeded to build the house that is on the lot today.

In 1994, Morris joined by Will as executor of Erline’s estate conveyed the property to William Thomas Hannis and his wife Kobye (Mahler) Hannis. Bill Hannis died in 2017 leaving Kobye the owner of the house. Kobe in 2022 married Scott McClatchy.