DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Cullen House in San Augustine County. Now settle in, because this one's got columns, a ballroom, and the fingerprints of a man who helped shape the whole Republic of Texas. In 1839, Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen — settler from Georgia, soldier of the Texas Revolution, and sitting member of the 3rd Congress of the Republic — built himself a home.
And not just any home. A Greek colonial, with pediments and Doric columns standing out front like they had somewhere important to be. Which, given what happened inside those walls, maybe they did.
Run your eye up to the roofline and you'd find a garret ballroom stretching the full length of the house, lit by fan-shaped windows that open like something spread its wings up there. Come on down to the center hall — long, wide, the kind that carries a breeze and a conversation in equal measure. Five fireplaces keep the place warm, and in the kitchen chimney there's a crane, the working kind, built for serious cooking.
The floors and walls are virgin pine, wide boards, the kind of timber you simply do not find anymore. Now, Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen wasn't just a man who knew how to build. He was a friend to President Lamar, and in the Congress of the Republic he wrote the bill that set aside public lands to fund schools — including a state university.
That's not a small thing to put your name on. The house he raised in 1839 is still standing in San Augustine County, those Doric columns holding their ground, that ballroom quiet now but full of everything it remembers.
What the marker says
Greek colonial home; pediments, Doric columns. Garret ballroom runs length of house, has opening fan-shaped windows. Long, wide center hall. 5 fireplaces with crane in kitchen chimney. Virgin pine wood in wide board floors, walls. Built 1839 by Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen, settler from Georgia, soldier of Texas Revolution, in 3rd Congress of the Republic. Friend to President Lamar, he wrote bill to fund schools (including state university) with public lands. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965