In the boom days, oil and money flowed like water in Sapulpa. The Sapulpa Light told its readers that Sapulpans should take pride in the fact that no other town of its size was “spending a million dollars in building.” It was during this Golden Age of development that Bates B. Burnett constructed the Cherokee Building at 23-25 East Hobson Avenue in 1910.
In 1894, after completing his education, Bates Burnett went to Vinita, Indian Territory with his father, then moved to Sapulpa in 1899. The June 1900 U.S. Census showed Bates’ father, William James Burnett, mother Dannie, and siblings Blanche, and Brooks were living in Sapulpa. Cordelia Burnett, siblings Effie, Birch, and Seornia were not listed in the household.
William—the patriarch of the family—built the Farmers and Merchants Bank on the northwest corner of Main St. and Dewey Ave., which is now the Young Law Building. After the elder Burnett died, The family business was left to his sons, Birch and Bates Burnett.
On June 17, 1903, at the age of 28, Bates married Dannie Hughes Ross, age 24, in Muskogee Indian territory. Dannie was the great-grandniece of John Ross, a Cherokee Indian Chief from the Trail of Tears.
Besides building the Cherokee Building, Bates Burnett was the principal developer of the St. James Hotel at the southwest corner of Main St. and Lee Ave, now the site of American Heritage bank’s drive-in facility and parking lot. Bates said the hotel was named after his son William James Burnett. Bates shared responsibility in the building of the Ross Building on North Main St., which was reported to be built by his wife and her sister, Miss Flora Ross, The Norwood Hotel, and the Sapulpa State Bank Building.
Every building constructed by Bates Burnett was first class. The family home, known today as the Burnett Mansion, was built in 1911 and Burnett spared no expense. The house was patterned after a plantation home and exuded southern elegance: Mahogany imported from the Philippines was used for the woodwork in the home. Two artists hand-painted canvas walls. The windows were made from the finest stained glass, and were draped with lace and embroidered velvet.
The Cherokee Building followed the same formula. A good section of the second floor was reinforced concrete with steel I-beams for support. Only the best brick was used. The bathrooms were Birch baths featuring wooden walls around the tubs and in the showers. When the current owner started remodeling it several years ago, The city inspector remarked that it was the heaviest built building in town.
The first recorded tenant at 23 E. Hobson Ave., was in 1911, a buggy manufacturer named Norman E. Chapman. 25 E. Hobson was vacant. Over the decades, the building had numerous tenants and vacancies, until 1991 when the building was purchased by Tyler Furniture, and 23 and 25 were used as an appliance warehouse. Rick and Teresa Tyler remodeled 23 ½ and it became their residence to date.
With exhaustive labor and a princely outlay of money, the Tylers transformed the second floor of the old commercial building into an elegant apartment with 2,500 square feet of living space and a 2,000 square feet deck that features a magnificent garden and outdoor living area.
Rick Tyler managed to save many of the original bathroom and light fixtures. The walls in the den are loblolly pine. The floor in the living room was cork and Rick laid carpet over the cork.
The city used the Tyler residence in two home tours and both times it was voted the favorite.
“It’s not what you expect in a downtown building. Nothing too fancy, but it is our home,” Rick said.
Bates Burnett: shrewd businessman, flawed character
Bates Burnett was regarded as a shrewd businessman and a strident supporter of Sapulpa. In 1906, the Sapulpa Light extolled the virtues and business acumen of Burnett:
“Sapulpa needs more men like B.B. Burnett…A good many people would do good to follow his broadminded example more frequently. It is Mr. Burnett’s policy to go into anything that will help Sapulpa, he does not have to see two dollars coming in before he will let go of one. he has the spirit that has the Western cities the marvel of the East. We need more of this spirit for Sapulpa.”
Alas, their champion of commerce and civic hero had feet of clay. Bates Burnett turned out to be a swindler and a philanderer. He and his brother were hauled into court after their bank was closed by examiners, who found that thousands of dollars had been embezzled. The Burnett brothers refused to show the books to the judge and went to jail for 90 days, for contempt of court.
As chronicled in the book, The Love Pirate and the Bandit’s Son, by Laura James, some of the money apparently went to his mistress who was a professional “gold-digger,” named Dr. Zoe Wilkins and the rest went to fund Bates’ get-rich-quick oil investments. Bates bought his way out of trouble but soon found himself in another legal pickle and monetary morass. He managed to be appointed guardian for elderly and minor landowners, mostly members of the creek tribe who held oil leases. He was using their money to invest in oil. The judge that overlooked the discrepancies in the reports Burnett filed, was Burnett’s brother-in-law. Bates had to repay $60,000 he stole from Gracie Berryhill’s trust and over $48,000 from another trust.
Surprisingly he went on to make his fortune which propelled him to Park Avenue. In spite of the public outrage, the Sapulpa Light maintained that no matter what Burnett had done, he was still “a builder of empires.”
