A Tulsa parking lot marks the spot where a 1944 discovery of domestic enslavement shocked the city — the duplex was demolished in 1984 after the case inspired decades of dark fascination.
10 E 21st St, Tulsa, OK 74119
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
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Free
Public sidewalk/parking lot; no fee.
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Wheelchair OK
Urban parking lot and sidewalk; fully accessible.
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Photos OK
Est. 1900 · Site of the 1944 Hex House case — Carolann Smith's multi-year domestic enslavement of Virginia Evans and Willetta Horner · Covered extensively by Tulsa World; became one of Tulsa's most-discussed true-crime cases · Dog-remains casket found buried on property · Smith convicted of suborning perjury, served approximately one year · Duplex demolished 1984; site now a parking lot
In April 1944, Tulsa police responded to the address at 10 E. 21st St. and discovered conditions that stunned the city. Carolann Smith, 51, had been holding two young women — Virginia Evans and Willetta Horner — in what authorities and the Tulsa press described as virtual slavery for approximately seven years. Smith had persuaded both women to turn over their paychecks while they lived in an unheated basement in rags, in conditions of significant deprivation, while Smith controlled all aspects of their lives.
A small casket containing dog remains was found buried in the backyard of the property, which local reporting connected to Smith's use of psychological, possibly occult-themed, control methods over the women. The 'Hex House' name attached to the case through press coverage and popular memory, referencing the apparent hold Smith maintained over Evans and Horner. Smith was charged and convicted of suborning perjury — a comparatively narrow charge relative to the circumstances — and served a sentence of approximately one year.
The case was extensively covered by the Tulsa World and became one of the more discussed true-crime episodes in the city's documented history. The duplex at 10 E. 21st St. continued to stand for four decades after the case before being demolished in 1984. The address is now a parking lot in midtown Tulsa. A commercial haunted attraction operating under the 'Hex House' name draws on the case's notoriety but operates at a separate location and is a theatrical experience, not the original site.
Sources
The Hex House legend is built on documented fact rather than paranormal tradition. The name itself comes from press and popular coverage of Smith's apparent ability to hold two adult women in prolonged psychological thrall — an element that struck contemporaries as sufficiently inexplicable to invite supernatural framing. The buried casket with dog remains reinforced the occult connotations, and the 'Hex House' designation in Tulsa's collective memory outlasted both the trial and the building.
The site at 10 E. 21st St. has no documented paranormal tradition in the historical record — the haunted-attraction business using the Hex House name operates elsewhere and is a theatrical venue. The original address draws visitors interested in Tulsa's documented crime history as a drive-by landmark rather than an active paranormal site. The case is regarded as one of the more unsettling chapters in midcentury Tulsa history, documented in depth in Tulsa World archives.
Notable Entities
The duplex at 10 E. 21st St. where the 1944 Hex House case unfolded was demolished in 1984. The address is now a parking lot in midtown Tulsa. Visitors interested in Tulsa's documented crime history can locate the site on foot or by car; no physical marker exists, but the case is extensively covered in Tulsa World archives.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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