Albert Ott House

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Albert Ott House, at 401 S. Harrison Street, is a Victorian home built in 1894 in what later became the Millbrooke neighborhood. The house was built on a large tract of land that contained his father's mill business and his father's home. The Queen Anne style house is wood frame construction on a limestone foundation. Albert Ott and his bride had the house built and were still living in it in the 1940s. Albert and his brother, Charles owned a dry goods store in Olathe and helped run the roller mill. The Albert Ott House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 for its significance in architecture.

Images

West elevation of Albert Ott House in 2009 photograph (KSHS)

Undated modern photo of front and west sides of Albert Ott House (KSHS)

Albert Ott House (purple star) on 1901 Sanborn master map of Olathe (Sanborn Map Company p. 1)

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Albert Ott (1862-1955) was born in Johnson County (containing Olathe) of German immigrants and became a merchant in Olathe. Albert was the son of Christian Martin Ott, who constructed the first mill in Olathe. Albert and his brother, Charles purchased a dry goods and grocery store in 1891; the brothers also took over the family's mill in 1892. Albert married Helena Hyer (1870-1958), also the child of German immigrants, in Illinois in 1893. Helena's brother, C.H. Hyer, owned the Hyer Boot Factory in Olathe. The couple had their home built on the mill tract, as Albert's father had done. On their fiftieth wedding anniversary, the couple was photographed standing on the front porch of their home, at 401 S. Harrison Street, surrounded by flowers. Photos of the couple from both days in 1893 and 1943 are linked below, from the Johnson County Museum's website.

The couple lived alone in the home in 1900 but welcomed a daughter, Alberta, around 1901. While Albert's occupation was listed in 1900 as "grocerman", by 1910 he considered himself to be a farmer. The road that this house fronts was called County Road on the 1901 Sanborn Insurance Map for Olathe; the east side of the road (including the house) was not yet a densely developed block so was not mapped in detail in the Sanborn atlas. The road was renamed Spring Hill Avenue by 1912. The Olathe Roller Mill buildings were along the north side of Cedar Street, a block northeast of the Albert Ott House, in 1901. By 1905, the Olathe Roller Mill was no longer in operation; the vacant buildings of the closed operation were in decay, according to the Sanborn map. The buildings along Cedar Street had become the Great Western Rubber Company by 1912, a manufacturer of rubber goods.

In 1920, Albert (age 57), Helena (49), and Alberta (18) shared the home; Albert worked as a manager of his own investments and Alberta was in school. Their neighbor, in a house on E. Cedar Street, was Albert's brother, Charles (55) and his wife and daughter. Albert's widowed mother, Justina (81) lived in a nearby house with an elderly nurse. Albert and Helena were living alone in the home once again by 1930. The property was valued at $4,500 and the 67-year-old worked as the manager of rentals. The house currently contains three bedrooms, two and one-half baths, and contains nearly 2,000 square feet on a quarter-acre lot. The exterior has been carefully preserved with its fishscale cladding, stick detailing, and turned wood porch columns.

Sources

Cox, Jarrott P.. Albert Ott, Memorial 74235654, Find A Grave. July 31st 2011. Accessed August 18th 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74235654/albert-ott.

Cox, Jarrott P.. Helen A. Hyer Ott, Memorial 74235628, Find A Grave. July 31st 2011. Accessed August 18th 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74235628/helena-a-ott.

Johnson County Museum. Fashionable Founders, Album, Johnson County Museum Newsletter. January 1st 1996. Accessed August 18th 2020. https://www.jocohistory.org/digital/collection/alb/id/339/rec/4.

Lippincott, Richard. NRHP Nomination of Albert Ott House. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1998.

Loughlin, Amanda. 091-4140-00057 Ott, Albert, House, 401 S Harrison St, Kansas Historic Resources inventory. Accessed August 18th 2020. https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=091-4140-00057.

Re/Max. 401 S Harrison St, Olathe, KS 66061, Home Details. January 1st 2020. Accessed August 18th 2020. https://www.remax.com/ks/olathe/home-details/401-s-harrison-st-olathe-ks-66061/10501305795334585063.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Household of Albert Ott in Olathe, Kansas, Enumeration district 103, dwelling 268, family 270. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1900.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Household of Albert Ott in Olathe, Kansas, Enumeration district 111, dwelling 241, family 248. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1910.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Household of Albert Ott in Olathe, Kansas, Enumeration district 114, dwelling 12, family 12. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1920.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Household of Albert Ott in Olathe, Kansas, Enumeration district 16, dwelling 276, family 273. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1930.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=091-4140-00057

https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn03044_005/