Ed Overholser was the 16th mayor of Oklahoma City

Oklahoma city

Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

 and a president of Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

Early life and career

Overholser was born in Sullivan, Indiana

Sullivan, Indiana

Sullivan is a city in Hamilton Township, Sullivan County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,617 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is the county seat of Sullivan County...

 to Henry Overholser

Henry Overholser

Henry Overholser was an Oklahoma businessman, county commissioner, and important contributor to the development of Oklahoma City. He was the first to erect two-story buildings in the city, both of which were torn down in 1907...

 and Emma Hanna Overholser. He was educated in public schools and attended a preparatory school for boys in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. He arrived in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma city

Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

 on April 2, 1890, and took over the management of the Overholser Opera House.

In the late 1890s, Overholser helped organized the townsites of Stroud, Wellston, Luther and Jones. He entered public service and worked as the manager of the Oklahoma City waterworks department and was the first Secretary of the State Fair Association. He also served as a school board member and as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. He was responsible for the large lake that was named in his honor, Lake Overholser

Lake Overholser

Lake Overholser is a reservoir within the city limits of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is located just west of the suburban city of Bethany. The lake covers approximately 1,500 acres and was constructed in 1919 to provide water to a treatment plant. Lake Overholser is named after Ed Overholser who...

. Overholser married Allie Garrison on May 26, 1903, and had two children, one of whom survived.

Mayor

Overholser won the race for mayor despite being a Republican in a strongly Democratic city. He served from April 13, 1915 to December 24, 1918.

Later life

Overholser became the President of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce from 1922 to 1927. He was responsible for erasing the chamber's debt and increasing the membership to 5,000, an impressive feat at a time when only five cities in the U.S. claimed large memberships. He was a member of a Masonic lodge, the Lutheran Church, and numerous clubs. Illness took his life on April 21, 1931, in Oklahoma City.