Clark House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it back to you. Way back in the early 1890s, somebody built a house in Belton, Bell County, that was meant to last. And it did.

A prominent Belton businessman by the name of Peter Hammersmith deeded the place to his son, John Peter, as a wedding gift in 1895. Start a new life, son. Here's a house.

Not a bad present. The property changed hands again in 1899, when it was sold to Sophie Clark, widow of a Rogers lumberman. Sophie Clark.

Remember that name, because it matters. Then along came World War II, and Fort Hood was nineteen miles to the west, and soldiers and workers needed somewhere to sleep. So the home was converted to a duplex to help ease the housing shortage that a wartime installation brings to its neighbors.

That's not a small thing, that conversion. That's a family home opening itself up to the times. Now, if you ever get a look at this house, pay attention to those semi-circular shingle bargeboards.

That's a detail somebody cared about, a flourish that says the builder wasn't just putting up walls. And the Clark family held onto it. Through wars, through change, through all of it, the house remained in the Clark family for over eighty years.

Sophie Clark bought it in 1899, and the family kept it. Some houses are just houses. This one was a home.

What the marker says

Built in the early 1890s, this house was deeded by prominent Belton businessman Peter Hammersmith to his son, John Peter, as a wedding gift in 1895. The property was sold to Sophie Clark, widow of a Rogers lumberman, in 1899. During World War II, the home was converted to a duplex to help ease the housing shortage at Fort Hood (19 mi.W). Featuring semi-circular shingle bargeboards, the house remained in the Clark family for over eighty years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982