Aldridge House

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passing it along. Settle in, because this one's got roots that go way down into Plano's soil. We're talking about the Aldridge House, sitting right there in Haggard Park, which happens to be Plano's first residential neighborhood and a locally-designated Heritage District.

That's a fine address for a fine old house. Now, the house as it stands was built in 1918, but the story starts a good while before that. Charles Aldridge, who went by C.C., was born in 1873, the son of J.K. and Maria Aldridge, early Plano pioneers and landowners.

So when C.C. put down roots here, he wasn't arriving from somewhere else. He was coming home to ground his own family had already broken. He'd gone off to Westmoreland College in San Antonio, gotten himself educated, and come back to get into the cotton industry.

And he didn't just dabble in it. He acquired businesses, managed his own operation called Aldridge Seed Farms, and in the early 1930s he was out there assisting farmers as an innovator in cotton seed strains. That last part matters.

Cotton was king in those years, and the man was working to make the king stronger. Meanwhile, his wife Elizabeth, born in 1877, née Armstrong, was not exactly standing on the porch watching. She was the first president of the Plano Parent-Teacher Association.

She was president of the Thursday Study Club, a literary organization. C.C. served on the Plano School Board, served on the City Council, and advocated for the Plano Good Roads Club and road improvements. Between the two of them, they had their hands in just about everything that was building this town into something.

Now here's where the house itself gets interesting. In 1910, C.C. purchased a lot in Haggard Park from Colonel William M. Weaver, an early settler and farmer, and on that lot sat an 1890 home.

He lived with that older house for a while. Then 1918 came around, and something significant happened. The marker is careful about this, and so am I.

The house was either completely remodeled, or it was dismantled and a brand new house was constructed in its place. We don't know exactly which. What we do know is what came out the other side.

A two-story clapboard house. Two brick chimneys. A low-pitched roof with wide eaves.

Ribbon windows forming a horizontal band right across the front. A wide one-story porch that extends around the south side into a porte-cochere. And those cornice-line wood brackets in the Mission style, emphasizing the corners.

Prairie Style architecture, with Mission architectural style details woven through it. Here's what makes all of that more than just a description: that house, standing today in Haggard Park, is the only example of Prairie Style architecture in the entire Heritage District. One of a kind.

In a neighborhood full of history, the Aldridge House stands alone in its style, a tangible reminder, the marker says, of the people who shaped the development of this area. Elizabeth Aldridge lived until 1964. C.C. lived until 1950.

The house they built in 1918 is still standing, still singular, still telling its story to anyone who cares to look.

What the marker says

LOCATED IN HAGGARD PARK, PLANO'S FIRST RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD AND LOCALLY-DESIGNATED HERITAGE DISTRICT, THE ALDRIDGE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1918 FOR CHARLES "C.C." ALDRIDGE (1873-1950), HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH A. (ARMSTRONG) (1877-1964), AND THEIR FAMILY. BORN TO EARLY PLANO PIONEERS AND LANDOWNERS J.K. AND MARIA (LIVELY) ALDRIDGE, C.C. ATTENDED WESTMORELAND COLLEGE IN SAN ANTONIO AND ACQUIRED BUSINESSES IN THE COTTON INDUSTRY. ALDRIDGE WAS AN INNOVATOR IN COTTON SEED STRAINS, ASSISTING FARMERS DURING THE EARLY 1930s AND MANAGING HIS OWN FARM, ALDRIDGE SEED FARMS. C.C. AND ELIZABETH BECAME LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY. ELIZABETH WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE PLANO PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION AND PRESIDENT OF THE THURSDAY STUDY CLUB, A LITERARY ORGANIZATION. C.C. SERVED ON THE PLANO SCHOOL BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL AND ADVOCATED FOR THE PLANO GOOD ROADS CLUB AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS. IN 1910, ALDRIDGE PURCHASED AN 1890 HOME ON THIS LOT FROM COL. WILLIAM M. WEAVER, AN EARLY SETTLER AND FARMER. IN 1918, THE HOUSE WAS EITHER COMPLETELY REMODELED OR WAS DISMANTLED AND A NEW HOUSE CONSTRUCTED IN THE PRAIRIE STYLE WITH MISSION ARCHITECTURAL STYLE DETAILS. THE STRUCTURE IS A TWO-STORY CLAPBOARD HOUSE WITH TWO BRICK CHIMNEYS, A LOW-PITCHED ROOF WITH WIDE EAVES AND RIBBON WINDOWS FORMING A HORIZONTAL BAND ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE. A WIDE ONE-STORY PORCH ACROSS THE FRONT EXTENDS TO FORM A PORTE-COCHERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. CORNICE-LINE WOOD BRACKETS IN THE MISSION STYLE EMPHASIZE THE CORNERS. AS THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITECTURE IN THE HAGGARD PARK HERITAGE DISTRICT, THE ALDRIDGE HOUSE STANDS AS A TANGIBLE REMINDER OF THE HERITAGE OF THE PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2019