Feature 304: 710 West Maple Avenue (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Fox/Raymond/Ott House.
Architectural Style: Queen Anne.
Construction Date: ca. 1890.
Period 2 of Harry S Truman’s Life: Establishing Community Roots, 1890-1919.
Tax Identification: 26-340-02-06.
Legal Description: Moore's Addition [no other specifics are noted in the original 2011 nomination form].
Description: Contributing two- and one-half story wood-frame dwelling; rectangular in shape; complex gabled and decorative brackets under slightly overhanging eaves, clad with composition shingles; asbestos shingles exterior; one-over-one double-hung sash synthetic windows, stained glass in some windows on facade; stone foundation with daylight basement. The lot features a grass lawn, shrubbery along facade foundation, and shade trees.
• Alterations: asbestos siding added.
• The property also contains a contributing, gabled roof wood-frame double-car garage in the rear, dating to the 1910s [Feature 305].
History/Significance: Henry J. Ott and his wife, Susan E. Shelton Ott, purchased the house around 1926. Henry Ott was an uncle to Natalie Ott Wallace, who married Frank Wallace, a brother-in-law of Harry S Truman.
Born in 1855 to long-time Independence business and cultural leaders, Christian and Louise Mohr Ott, Henry Ott was educated in Independence public schools. Active in Independence government and the business community, Henry served several terms as an Independence councilman. Henry Ott joined and, upon the death of Christian Ott, took over and operated his father's undertaking and furniture business. Near the end of his life, Henry Ott served as a director of the Chrisman-Sawyer Bank in Independence, presided over the Community Welfare League, and was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. Henry Ott's wife, Susan Shelton Ott, was active in Independence social and cultural activities. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church and regent of the Missouri State and Independence chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Susan Ott was a charter member of the Mary Paxton Study Club and the Browning Society, two Independence literary societies whose members included Truman family members. Following Henry Ott's death in 1930, Susan Ott continued to reside at 710 West Maple Avenue until her death in 1952.
The Raymond/Ott House was probably built in the late 1880s, just as a period of robust growth in Independence came to a close. Although the original owner and occupant is not yet known, S. Waters Fox, a civil engineer, as well as Effie Fox and Burton C. Fox, occupied the house for several years in the early 1900s. Otis J. Raymond and his wife, Bess H., bought the property around 1910 and lived at 710 West Maple Avenue into the early 1920s. Raymond J. Otis [sic] had come to Independence in 1906 as a stockholder in the Independence Ice and Cold Storage Company. He soon sold his stock and established a lumber business on East Lexington Avenue, the O.J. Raymond Lumber Company, over which he presided for many years.