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 Melissa Dora Oliver-Eakle
N 35° 11.011 W 101° 50.491
14S E 241250 N 3897094
Texas Historical Marker inside Oliver-Eakle Park, 2801 S Tyler St, Amarillo, TX, providing some background on the notable contributions that Mrs. Oliver-Eakle made to the development of Amarillo.
Waymark Code: WMTJKH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2016
Views: 2
Marker Number: 3321
Marker Text:
A descendant of two prominent 17th-century families in Virginia and Georgia, Melissa Dora Callaway (1860-1931) was a graduate of Georgia Female College. In 1884, she married industrialist Capt. William Oliver. Following his death, she visited her brothers in Amarillo in 1889, purchased land in Potter and Randall Counties in 1890, and in 1895 moved to the frontier town of Amarillo.
Mrs. Oliver's personal fortune allowed her to invest in the town at a time when money was sorely needed for its growth. She developed part of her landholdings into the subdivision in which Amarillo College and Memorial Park are located.
In 1902, she married O.M. Eakle (d. 1914) and was known thereafter as Mrs. M.D. Oliver-Eakle. A lover of opera and classical literature, Mrs. Oliver-Eakle assisted in establishing the first library, helped finance the Amarillo Opera House and sponsored the local temperance movement. In 1927, she completed Amarillo's first skyscraper, a ten-story office building.
Remembered for her significant cultural contributions, business achievements, and as one of the city's largest taxpayers during a time when women experienced difficulty with involvement in the financial world. Mrs. Oliver-Eakle is buried in Amarillo's Llano Cemetery. (1985)
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