First published January 12, 2014
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ENID, OK - This is a brief history and background on my family and a home that we owned for many decades. My great-grandmother, Ethel Valentine Ash (age 14), moved from Illinois to Enid, Oklahoma in 1900 with her family during the land runs of that time. The Ash family settled on 80 acres located from the intersection of U.S. 412 and Garland Road at the west edge of Enid (Walmart and Lowes area).
Ethel rode a horse each day to the little red school house, which was Glenwood School. She had to quit school when her mother died, to stay home and take care of her two brothers who farmed the land. This prevented her from being our first generation to graduate from Enid High school.
Ethel married William A. (Bert) Erwin in 1909. They purchased 1009 W. Randolph sometime not long after. Over the years we always called it Ten-O-Nine. Their daughter, my grandma, was born there, on the second floor, in 1913. She was the last person to own the house until it was sold along with the other homes on the block for commercial development.
The house was basically located where Taco Mayo is today. The entire block was filled with large two story homes when I was a kid.
Vintage Enid Photo
The photo above is a picture of my grandma, Elizabeth Scaling, in a wagon being pulled by a goat. The photo was taken in front of Ten-O-Nine around 1916-1917. The house next door (in the background) really changed over the years while old Ten-O-Nine stayed much the same.
1009 W. Randolph, Enid
Here is an early photo of 3 young girls in front of Ten-O-Nine. We are not sure who the girls are but most likely neighbors. Notice the lot next door and the big house in the background. The house in the background would have been on the southwest corner of Van Buren and Randolph. My best guess is that this was in the 1920's.
1009 W. Randolph, Enid
This photo is a better shot than the one above it. Again this is 1009 W. Randolph looking east. The street between the two story houses was Van Buren when it was nothing more than another 2 lane street named after a president. The house in the background closest to Ten-O-Nine eventually was torn down and became the south bound lane of Van Buren. There is a lady in a mink coat walking a dog in the background. Best guess is that this photo was taken right around 1920. This is Elizabeth Erwin Scaling at about age 7-8.
1009 W. Randolph, Enid
Yet another photo in front of Ten-O-Nine looking east toward Van Buren and downtown. Again this is Elizabeth Erwin Scaling in the mid to late 192o's. Notice the two story behind her head. That is the home that faced east looking down Randolph towards downtown. That was where James and Randolph split. Once Van Buren was widened that house lost almost all of its front yard.
1009 W. Randolph, Enid
We discovered this photo of Ten-O-Nine with a big tree in front and a new house next door. Our best guess on this photo is the 1940's or 1950's. The single story on the left eventually became a gas station and the house on the right had a complete remodel somewhere down the road.
Ethel Valentine Erwin
My great grandma, Ethel Erwin, owned the home before my grandma. This black and white photo shows my uncle, Richard Scaling, with my great grandma standing in front of Ten-O-Nine. The year must have been in the early 1950's.
1009 West Randolph, Enid
This photo is most likely from the late 60's or early 70's which is the way I remember the house as a kid. It seemed like a huge house and had the coolest wrap around front porch. There were stairs on the front and back of the porch so we ran around it for hours. It also had a two person swing that kept us occupied for hours.
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There was a small gas station right next door to the east which rented U-Hauls. I remember playing in the front yard at night running and hiding from cars. I always wondered why the cars only seemed to come from one direction, as a kid I hadn't learned about one way streets.
1009 W. Randolph, Enid
This is an additional 1980's photo of Ten-O-Nine. The lot from which the picture was taken is the area between Randolph and James. All of these homes had been torn down for commercial development.
Scaling House
The last photo shows Ten-O-Nine in it's later years. This was late 70's or early 80's. All of the houses in the area were being bought up for a rumored development along Randolph and James. My grandma had moved into another home and held out selling Ten-O-Nine as long as she could. It wasn't long after this photo that the old place was torn down.
If you notice the garage in the background you can see it was painted half and half. From the time they were built, Ten-O-Nine and the house next door shared one driveway and each owned half of the garage. Talk about a parking nightmare!
Today, this is the parking lot and location of Taco Mayo. My grandma's house sat almost exactly where the restaurant is and it always brings back great memories when I eat there.
Interesting fact: If you look back through the photos you'll see a Gremlin and a Pacer parked at the house. My uncle may have been the only person to have owned both cars!!
