Built in 1924, this house was sold three years later to Mr. and Mrs. John D. Thomas, one of Oklahoma City‘s pioneer merchant families. A native of Ohio, Thomas migrated first to Kansas, where he worked for a wholesale grocery firm, then in 1901 to Oklahoma City, where he traveled for the Ridenour-Baker Wholesale Grocery Company. At the time he was 23 years old.

Five years later Thomas joined his uncle, John Lloyd, and operated Crescent Grocery, located at 205 West Main. The retail outlet prospered, and in 1927 they moved to the Plaza Court shopping Center at 10th and Walker. In 1948 the store moved to Nichols Hills Plaza and was the oldest retail grocery store in the state.

The house, too, retains a sense of continuity. In 1969, after the death of Mrs. Thomas, their grandson, Thomas Walbert, moved in. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma and an independent oilman, he was familiar with the neighborhood. His parents’ home where he grew up was located at 308 NW 18th.

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