Volume 17 , Issue 31

Old Opera House Mystery, 9 November 1910

The image on the left is a 1909 platte map of the downtown Alva square, showing block 49, Lots 1-16, of the location of the "Old Opera House" where the mysterious death of Mabel Oakes occurred 9 November 1910, Tuesday.

It was Alva's first homicide, three years after Statehood. Nelson L. Miller (35 years), Justice of Peace, was arrested and charged in the death of Mabel Oakes (23 years). Because of the mob mentality of Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma, the Trial jurisdiction was moved to Woodward, Oklahoma, September, 1911.

Back in the late 1990's this NW Okie did some research on the death of Mabel Oakes, and the trial of Nelson L. Miller. We have put all our research online at Old Opera House Mystery, showing the cast of characters, timeline, news clippings, and transcription of the thousand pages of the September, 1911 trial of N. L. Miller vs State of Oklahoma.
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