I was compiling all the reasons it couldn't be the same house:
The foundation brick is different
The rest of the house is now brick, it was siding
2nd floor balcony removed
Roof over the porch has been narrowed
All the decorative supports, wood work has been removed
A flat second roof was replaced with a gable
The attic vent has quadrupled in size
BUT... to really kill the issue I decided to look at the house next door. And I think it's the same damn house!
The house we are looking in Google at was built in 1925. The house immediately to the north wasn't built until the 1950s, so it wouldn't appear in the background to the right of the old house - and that space is blank in the old picture.
The house next door to the west was built in 1913. And there is a house to the west in the old picture too.
We can't tell that much about it - 2 stories, sided not brick, 3 part brick chimney, and a roofline that cuts back into the house when level with the ground. If the house next door to the Google house can be rulled out - then the Google house and the old house are not one in the same. But I think they are...
Chimney: Initially I thought the chimney seals the deal as a NO. But then I went back in time on street view and a ways down the street. a new chimney has been built along side the old chimney. The old chimney is a brick chimney with 3 exit ports on the top. Just like the photo (you may have to zoom in):
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1361565,-95.9795938,3a,19.5y,10.21h,104.75t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3SmyKO1Yo_Yuk7CRzpAvsg!2e0!5s20110701T000000!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1361565,-95.9795968,3a,62.4y,17.99h,109.88t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suuYR6knTs-IqIj_qsvS_Tw!2e0!5s20140401T000000!7i13312!8i6656
The other element that was interesting was the roofline. It cuts back in sharply as an architectural element. And it certainly appears the neighbor house still does this today:
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1361566,-95.9792248,3a,19y,320.82h,96.17t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s8fsFMxfZAZ8N-iSyYpeJ1w!2e0!5s20140401T000000!7i13312!8i6656
The neighbor house has had a lot of changes and an expansion towards the house we are looking at. But it sure fits.
Same Chimney. Same roofline. Same pillars. Same porch. Same concrete cap on brick pillars. Same windows. Same number of steps on the porch. Same lot orientation (and both a corner lot). Sidewalk same distance from road. Driveway is in the same place.
Ten years ago there was even a pine tree in the same place a tiny pine tree stands in the old photo (not that it has to be the same tree). Some odd details are even the same (note under porch roof there is a beam going from the last pillar to the wall, its int he exact same place even though the roofline of the porch ceiling has moved).
I'm saying its the same house.
It was driving me crazy.