Davis Law Office

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1845, somebody put up a little frame structure in Montgomery, Texas. Nothing fancy, just wood and purpose.

And that purpose, at least to start, belonged to a man named Judge Nat Hart Davis. He used it as his law office and his living quarters, both. One building pulling double duty, which, if you know anything about frontier Texas, was just good sense.

But Judge Davis wasn't keeping all that legal wisdom to himself. No, young attorneys would come and read law right there under his supervision. You can almost picture them, heads bent over books in that frame building, the Judge somewhere nearby, keeping an eye on things.

That little office was turning out lawyers before most of Montgomery had its boots broken in. Then came 1848, and the building took on a whole new life. The mayor and the Montgomery City Council started meeting there, and they kept right on meeting there until 1854.

Six years of civic business conducted inside walls that had already seen legal minds sharpened and careers begun. After the council moved on, the building became a school. And if that weren't enough chapters for one structure, it later served as a United States Post Office, from 1923 all the way to 1936.

Letters coming and going, news traveling in and out, through the same door that once opened for Judge Davis and his young lawyers. One small frame building. A law office, a home, a seat of local government, a school, a post office.

Montgomery's early days, still standing there in the wood.

What the marker says

Built in 1845, this frame structure was first used for the law office and living quarters of Judge Nat Hart Davis. Many young attorneys read law here under Judge Davis' supervision. From 1848 to 1854 the structure was the meeting place for the mayor and Montgomery City Council, and later was used as a school. It served as a U. S. Post Office from 1923 to 1936 and now is a reminder of Montgomery's early days. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967