A. M. Brownfield Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane's gonna lay it out for you. A. M.

Brownfield. The man the town was named for. He rode into Terry County in 1900 as a rancher, and if you know anything about West Texas at the turn of the century, you know that was no small undertaking.

But Brownfield wasn't the kind of man who just worked the land and kept quiet about it. By 1905 he had organized the Brownfield State Bank, which tells you something about his standing in that early community. A leader, a builder, a man who put down roots deep enough that his name ended up on the map.

Now here's where the story gets a little heavier. In 1915, fire took the family's residence. Gone.

And if you've ever seen what fire does to a home, you understand why that stays with a person. So when Brownfield built again, in 1928, he built differently. The home he raised for his family that year was constructed of concrete and clay, materials chosen deliberately, chosen specifically to make the structure as fireproof as possible.

He wasn't leaving that to chance a second time. The design itself carries the graceful lines of Spanish Colonial architecture, and standing there today you can feel the intention in every wall. A man who lost one home to fire and answered by building something that fire couldn't touch.

That's not just a house. That's a statement.

What the marker says

A. M. Brownfield, for whose family this town was named, came to Terry County as a rancher in 1900. An early community leader, he organized the Brownfield State Bank in 1905. Built as a home for his family in 1928, this structure exhibits influences of the Spanish Colonial style of architecture. The concrete and clay building materials were used to make the home as fireproof as possible, since an earlier family residence had been destroyed by fire in 1915. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985