Sunrise Knoll: Dr Sells’ houses

Frank Wesley Sells was a physician and surgeon in Osceola and Murray. In addition to a medical practice, he started a house building program soon after World War 1, building 25 houses in Osceola for employees of the pipeline and armory.

Modern houses to rent were scarce articles in towns the size of Osceola. These houses served the community with modern homes. His enterprise almost wholly took care of the then housing shortage. These houses were then known as, and are still referred to by some today as, “Dr. Sells’ houses.”

In September 1929, Dr. Sells built four new modern residences. Three were built around a court (Court Street today) constructed in the center of a block at the rear of a residence on West McLane Street.

These houses were similar in construction to the six he built during the early 1920s, three on South Fillmore Street and three on West McLane Street just south of where the three new ones were built (Court Street).

The fourth house built was on East Cass Street between South Adams and South Kossuth streets.

Dr. Sells contracted for seven more new buildings to be erected that fall, making a total of 11 built that fall. Of that seven, one was on South Park Street, one near East Ward School, also between South Adams and South Kossuth streets.

In 1942, Dr. Sells contracted for eight more houses on the west side of North Adams Street between East Washington and East Webster streets. This area was known as “Sunrise Knoll” and the houses were all modern with full basements, shower baths, sun parlor, porch and garages along the “drive” on the west side of the houses.

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There are also quite a few simple style homes known as pyramidal roof cube houses in Osceola. The house itself is a square with a chimney in the center and a roof that comes up evenly from all four edges without gables or eves. The interior is a four-room arrangement under a pyramidal roof.

Some homes have been modified making the home style less obvious with additional rooms and porches added. This modest type of house was popular from 1900 to 1940 and built by the railroad companies for homes for their workers.

These homes are located in the areas of town where a rail line was not too distant.

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In the late 1950s and mid 1960s, several houses were moved from the Truro pipeline booster to Osceola and country locations. Locations of some in Osceola are East Washington and South Kossuth streets, West Cass Street and North Ridge Road and the 400 block of North Fillmore Street.