HOMES of OLNEY

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The Brazelton-Calhoun House

627 S. Avenue C., Olney, TX Photos by Will Sadler

Photos by Will Sadler

The lot on which this house is located was platted in 1907, with the coming of the railroad by George W. Hutchings (1861-1948). Hutchings and John W. Groves bought two adjoining 320s in the 1890s and decided to interest a merchant in opening a store. The search was successful when J.M. Brisco of Llano accepted the two-acre site and built a store around 1890, which also became the post office. The lot for this house was purchased by G.I. Maloy in 1907, and he sold it to John Hege in 1915, but no house was built until Jesse B. Brazleton and his wife Ola Lone acquired the lot from the Hege heirs in 1930; The Hege heirs gave a Deed of Trust to Shamburger Lumber Company to build the house.

Later in 1930, the Brazletons gave a Deed of Trust on the property to W.F. Brazelton, and in 1934, they transferred the property to W.F. in exchange for cancellation of the note and Deed of Trust. In 1955, the W.F. Brazletons conveyed the property to Harvey Bishop (1916-1968) and his wife Elnora (Helton) (1918-2001). The Bishop and Helton families were well-known in Olney and Newcastle. Harvey was a member of the Rue Bishop Quartet who sang at many area events. The Bishops were the parents of one son and two daughters. The Bishops’ son was Jerry, an outstanding quarterback for the Olney Cubs who went on to do likewise at Austin College in Sherman. The daughters were Janelle Moody of Newcastle and Donna Bruegel of Amarillo. Harvey ran a Texaco filling station, and after his death, his widow married a widower, Emmett Cooke, who had run another Texaco station.

In 1957, the Bishops conveyed the property to Tom Franklin (1895-1978) Rickett and his wife Violet (1909- 1996). Tom had worked in the oil fields around Olney and was active in the Assembly of God.

In 1963, the Ricketts conveyed the property to Horace C. Blancett (1923-1998) and his wife Arlene (Jackson) (1925-2014). The Blancetts had four daughters—Elaine Winingham (Dan), Gayle Palmer (Scott), Diane Cotter and Jacklyn Allmond.

In 2008, Arlene conveyed the property to Clifford O. Calhoun and his wife Terri L., the current owners.