The Lovett-Walker House 811 West Main St. Olney, TX
This lot was a popular piece of real estate among the medical fraternity in Olney having been owned by Drs. Harrell, McKinney and Hamilton without any of them building a house on the lot. In 1937, Dr. J.P. (Poe)(1907-1971) and Sadie (Brewer)(1907-1997) Lovett built the house with T.G. Wignall of Graham as the contractor. The Lovetts were natives of Eastland County. Poe was a graduate of Baylor and University of Chicago Medical School, interning at Charity Hospital in New Orleans 1931-1933. Sadie was a graduate of U.T. and married Dr. Lovett in 1934. In 1935, Dr. Lovett partnered with Dr. Alvin Baldwin to found the Baldwin-Lovett Clinic in the 300 block of West Main. (As a side note Dr. Baldwin came here as a bachelor but found a mate in Archer City, a daughter of the Jess Prideauxs in the late 30s.) With the coming of World War II, the doctors had to go to war and Dr. E. Filmore Meredith came to fill the void. Dr. Lovett joined the Navy in 1942 as a Lt. Cmdr. M.D.
After the war his brother, Dr. R.E. Lovett, came to join in Lovett-Meredith Clinic. Dr. J.P. was a member of the Olney Rotary Club, a trustee First Methodist Church, a director of First National Bank, and a member of the OISD Board of Trustees. Sadie Lovett was a member of First Methodist Church and the Junior Altruistic Club. She continued to live in the house after the doctor’s death in 1971, but in 1991 she moved to Dallas to be near their only child, Jim Lovett.
In 1992, Sadie sold the house to Scott and Debbi (Myers) Bockhoff, both of whom grew up here and were OHS grads. Scott was the son of Bill and Peggy (Williams) Bockhoff and Debbie was the daughter of James B. and Leann (Kirkland) Myers. Scott was the proprietor of the large restaurant in the 1100 block of West Main.
In 1998, the Mark and Jamie Hamlin became the owners. Mr. Hamlin worked with youth sports organizations in Olney as a volunteer. Mr. Hamlin came to Olney as an extrusion manager for Tower. In 2003, Judy Mankins took over the property.
Judy is an employee of the OISD as an elementary teacher.
In 2008, Frank Thomas Jr. (Tom) and Shelley (Williams) Bailey bought the house upon his becoming the OISD superintendent. Tom came from a family that engaged in funeral homes and Shelley is a Methodist’s preacher’s daughter.
In 2013, the Olney Christian Community Center Inc. became the owner.
In 2017, Ronni Walker became the owner. She is the publisher of the Olney Enterprise and is a graduate of Southern University (SU) and Louisiana State University ( LSU).
If you have any corrections or concerns, please contact Clifton Key at 940-564-2979.