Abernathy House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Abernathy House in Camp County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a family that left its mark on a town, and a house that refused to let anyone forget it. David Harper Abernathy came into this world in 1858, over in Arkansas.

He was just a young boy when his family pulled up stakes and moved to Pittsburg in 1864. Now, David didn't stay put for long. He went off to Nashville, Tennessee, learned the ways of business, and then did something a lot of young men talk about but few actually do.

He came back. Came back to help run his father's dry goods store, right there in Pittsburg. And that was just the beginning.

David became a major leader in town, heavily involved in the Methodist Church, the kind of man whose name gets spoken with a certain weight when folks talk about how a place got built up. Then came 1896, and with it, something built to last. George Barber raised up a house for the Abernathy family that year, and he did not cut corners.

Two stories tall, Queen Anne style, with a wraparound porch that says come sit a while, spindle work done just so, and a front gable to catch your eye from the road. Now here is the part that'll stop you cold if you think about it. That original front door is still there.

Still intact. And much of the interior, all these years on, has remained unchanged. The house was expanded and modified after World War II, sure, but the bones of the place, the spirit of it, held.

The marker calls it what it is, a reminder of a century of the influential Abernathy family. One house. One family.

And Pittsburg still carrying the proof.

What the marker says

David Harper Abernathy was born in 1858 in Arkansas. He moved with his family to Pittsburg in 1864. After learning business in Nashville, Tennessee, David returned to help run his father's dry goods store. He was a major leader in town and was heavily involved in the Methodist Church. This house was built for the Abernathy family in 1896 by George Barber. It is a two-story queen Anne-style home, with a wraparound porch, spindle work and a front gable. The original front door is intact and much of the interior has remained unchanged. The house was expanded and modified after World War II. The house is a reminder of a century of the influential Abernathy family.