Many of Abilene’s business and professional families built houses in the neighborhood just west of downtown. This two-story residence was constructed for entrepreneur and philanthropist Horace O. Wooten, who established a grain business in Abilene in 1890, the H. O. Wooten Wholesale Grocery Company. It served a large area of West Texas, as well as the Wooten Hotel (SB23) among other buildings. The house’s low-pitched roof with broad overhangs gives the brown brick building some Prairie Style overtones. A one-story front porch has three round arches outlined in contrasting-colored brick.
On the next block at 340 Beech the William A. Minter House (1924) was designed by William J. Nichol and George F. Campbell. The two-story, brown brick, Tudor-styled house has a steeply pitched slate roof with a cross gable on the front and a one-story front porch. A garage to the rear is a miniature version of the house. Minter established the Minter Dry Goods Company in 1900; later, Minter’s Department Store (SB16) became one of the largest in West Texas.