Alley-McKay House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere in Marion County stands a house that has watched a whole lot of Texas history walk through its front door, and the marker on that house has a story worth telling. It starts with a man named Daniel Nelson Alley, born in 1810, gone by 1868, and right in the middle of that span he built this home, about 1851.

Alley wasn't just any settler passing through. He was a founder of Jefferson, and by the time he put up this house he was already one of the prominent early landowners in Marion County. A man of standing, building a home to match.

And the house he chose was Greek revival, a four-room central hall plan, the kind of design that says permanence, that says I am not going anywhere. Now, Alley didn't hold onto it forever. Several families owned the place before 1884, and the marker doesn't name every one of them, so neither will I.

But 1884 is when the story picks up its second great character. That year, Hector McKay bought the property. Hector McKay, born 1835, died 1893, was a veteran of the Civil War and one of the area's leading attorneys.

A man who had seen war and then chose the law, living in a house built by a founder of Jefferson. When Hector passed in 1893, the house didn't leave the family. His son, Arch McKay, born 1875, held onto it.

Held onto it for the rest of his life, all the way until his death in 1954. From Daniel Nelson Alley laying the first foundation stones around 1851, to Arch McKay closing the final chapter in 1954, that house just kept standing, in its Greek revival grace, watching Marion County grow up around it. Some houses outlast the people who love them.

This one seems to have earned that right.

What the marker says

Daniel Nelson Alley (1810-68) built this home about 1851. A founder of Jefferson, Alley was a prominent early landowner in Marion County. Several families owned the house before 1884, when Hector McKay (1835-93) bought the property. A veteran of the Civil War, McKay was one of the area's leading attorneys. His son, Arch McKay (1875-1954), retained ownership of the home until his death. Designed in the Greek revival style, it features a 4-room central hall plan. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986