Now You Know: Nye Family Movers

Nye Family Movers

Family Business Set the Record as Bartlesville Movers by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

Indian Territory was pretty much a lawless land in 1878; Bartles, Johnstone and Keeler were in deep trading competition; subscription schools were being founded; and the discovery of oil was just under the surface, about to erupt.

That very year, Missouri-born, 22-year-old John Wesley Mikels and his cousin rode horseback 2,000 miles in search of adventure. They found themselves in Indian Territory and in need of a permit to work in the area. In 1880, Mikels joined seven other young men who traveled by wagon over dirt trails to Claremore where they purchased a work permit from the Indian Agent.

Mikels attempted two land runs, worked on several area ranches and carried mail by team from Coffeyville to Pawhuska before marrying Miss Barbara Iseli and settling at Jacob Bartles’ north settlement to manage Bartles’ Hotel. In 1900, when Bartles moved north to establish the town of Dewey, Mikels moved close to the newly arrived railroad and built the two story woodframe Piazza Hotel at the southwest corner of Keeler Avenue and Third Street (currently Frank Phillips Blvd.). However, Mikels

was not a stand still type of guy. In 1901, he sold the Piazza Hotel and made an oil fortune in the Cleveland area.

The twenty-room Piazza Hotel joined the National Hotel (later called the Right Way Hotel) as lodging opportunities for railroad visitors and oil boom prospectors. The Piazza had a full-service barbershop, Bingham’s laundry service and a peanut vending machine on the lovely wrap-around porch, which offered perfect across the street viewing of the 1907 statehood shooting of Ernest Lewis … but that’s a story for another time.

There have been periods of housing shortages in the Bartlesville area so hotels played an important role in the settlement of Bartlesville. Some early Bartlesville buildings were constructed of native stone or brick; however, the majority of the structures were lumber based, allowing easy relocation and repurpose.

In 1908, Elmer Elsworth and Ella May Nye came to Bartlesville and increased the population with their five sons and two daughters (Loren, Clarence, Earnest, Raymond, Orville, Nellie and Lucille). Elmer was recognized as a pioneer businessman as he entered the house moving business upon his arrival and contin

Although the Nye family was not the first to move a Bartlesville building, they substantially broke the record as the longest standing “movers.” Loren Nye joined his father in the house moving business after serving in WWI and continued the business after Elmer’s death, retiring in 1957. Clarence also served in WWII then operated the Nye Cities Service Station at 5th Street and Comanche and a trucking business for 30 years. Earnest operated Nye Trucking Company for 44 years and retired from various other jobs in 1976. Raymond Sr. was the owner and operator of Ray Nye Trucking Company and operated the 4th Street Garage.

In the name of repurposing, the Nye’s moved the Piazza Hotel to east of the old courthouse in November 1913 and it became a rooming house at 523 East Third Street until being torn down in the 1940’s. A brick two-story building replaced the Piazza at Third and Keeler. The first story was occupied by businesses and the Lander's Bros. Grocery was the last to use the store front as a grocery store with the Palace Hotel on the second floor.

The Piazza was gently moved from Third Street and Johnstone Avenue, south to 4th Street and east to its new home location with no complications. However, not every downtown move happened without a hitch. In 1911, Nye contracted to move a “ramshackle framed building” four blocks north from its original 312 S. Dewey Avenue location. The building traveled north to Third Street before facing the Interurban’s overhead electrical lines. At midnight, when the final trolley car reached the barn, the overhead lines were cut allowing the move to continue and bringing applause from the midnight crowd gathered for the amusement.

With wagons, trucks and tractors, there were no limitations to the weight or type of items the Nye family could move. The Washington County Court House received a safe via the railroad in May 1909 and Elmer Nye easily moved the safe to the courthouse. And when the citizens of Bartlesville voted to have the Civic Center built in the 600 block of Johnstone Avenue, Elmer Nye moved the homes from that block prior to construction.

Early movers were not afraid of moving brick structures but often the outcome of moving a wooden structure was much

better. Elmer Nye was an expert mover and prided himself in “crackless” moves. Moving a building with no additional cracks in the building’s plaster added to his bragging rights.

According to James Nye Jr., after the death of Elmer Nye in 1929, James’ grandfather, Loren, continued the Nye Moving business. “The movers opened the foundation, inserted big beams, jacked and blocked to the needed height, then placed a ‘truck of solid iron.’ In order to lift the tremendous amount of weight, lift jacks or railroad jacks were used. The buildings were then moved using a steel cable and winch to drag buildings down the street. They removed a brick from the street, drove a steel bar into the street, a horse was harnessed to the pole and cable and the horse walked around and around, winding the cable onto the capstan-styled winch. They also used draft horses to drag huge boilers.”

The wooden Right Way Hotel at the northwest corner of Johnstone Ave. and Third Street was moved in 1909 to the north end of Osage and operated as the Johnstone Park Apartments until being razed in 2008. About 1925, the First United Methodist Church’s parsonage was moved from 5th and Johnstone to the 700 block of Johnstone Ave. and used as Arnold Moore’s residence. And the most bizarre move was a house jacked high enough to clear a bridge obstructing the path of travel. Did You Know?

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