Autrey-Williams House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends. The Autrey-Williams House, standing there in Newton County like it's got somewhere important to be and always has. This house went up in 1912, built by a man named L.

M. Autrey, a turpentine producer. And when a turpentine man builds a house, you can bet he's not thinking small.

Autrey had it modeled after the Malbis Plantation, over near Mobile, Alabama, and he built it out of long-leaf pine lumber. Classical style, Victorian touches. The kind of place that makes you slow down when you drive past it, even if you don't quite know why.

Now Autrey didn't hold onto it forever. In 1918 he sold the house to a man named N. A.

Dawson, a road contractor. Think about that combination for a second. A turpentine producer builds it, a road contractor buys it.

Newton County was a place where commerce moved, where men made their living off the land and off getting from one place to another. Then in 1923, the house passed to Thomas Williams, a lumberman and civic leader, and his family. They stayed.

From 1923 all the way to 1979, that house was theirs. The same long-leaf pine walls, the same classical columns and Victorian lines, sheltering a family and a community figure for all those decades. Several leading Newton County businessmen called this place home over the years, and that long-leaf pine has outlasted every one of their business deals.

Some things you build just right, and they endure.

What the marker says

The home of several leading Newton County businessmen, this house was constructed in 1912 by turpentine producer L. M. Autrey. In 1918 he sold it to N. A. Dawson, a road contractor. From 1923 to 1979 it was the home of lumberman and civic leader Thomas Williams and his family. Built of long-leaf pine lumber, it was modeled after the Malbis Plantation near Mobile, Alabama, and features characteristics of the classical and Victorian styles. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980