Cleveland-Partlow House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I tell it to you. Somewhere in Liberty County, there stands a house that has been watchin the world change since about 1860. That is not a misprint.

About 1860. And it is still standing. Now that right there ought to get your attention.

The Cleveland-Partlow House, they call it, and it earned every syllable of that name the long way. Judge Charles L. Cleveland built it, and whoever Judge Cleveland hired knew what they were doing, because this place did not fold.

It did not vanish. It endured. The house went up in that late Greek revival style, which was already something of a rarity in Texas, and then, as if to keep things interesting, it threw in some Italianate elements too.

So you've got this structure that can't quite decide if it belongs in ancient Athens or a Tuscan hillside, and somehow it works. Somehow it has always worked. In 1870, the property was sold to Frederich F.

Foscue. Then in 1886, William Samuel Partlow bought it, and that is where the story really digs in its heels. The Partlow family held onto that house the way Texans hold onto a good piece of land, which is to say, firmly, and for a very long time.

Three prominent Liberty families left their mark on this place, and the house carries all of that weight in its walls and its woodwork. Finally, in 1981, the Partlow family gave the property to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Gave it.

Not sold it. Given. One of the oldest existing structures in Liberty, passed into the hands of the people of Texas like a long letter finally reaching its rightful address.

Some houses just refuse to be forgotten, and this one made sure of it.

What the marker says

One of the oldest existing structures in Liberty, this home was built about 1860 by Judge Charles L. Cleveland. It was sold to Frederich F. Foscue in 1870, and William Samuel Partlow bought the property in 1886. Noted as an uncommon example of late Greek revival architecture in Texas, the house also exhibits some elements of the Italianate style. Also significant for its association with three prominent Liberty families, the house remained in the Partlow family until 1981, when it was given to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962