Davison Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it: so let me give it to you straight, with a little color on the side. Frank and Florence Haven Davison broke ground on their home in 1895, and by 1897 they had themselves a sturdy Victorian structure standing in Texas City; cypress wood, built to last. And if you know anything about what the Gulf Coast throws at a house, you understand why that choice of material matters.

Cypress doesn't flinch easy. Now, that town had a former name (Shoal Point), and inside those walls was born the very first child ever born in Texas City. Think about that.

The whole history of a place, and this house was there at the beginning of it, cradling the first new life the town ever saw. Frank Davison wasn't just building a home, either. The man was woven into the fabric of that community something fierce.

First city commissioner. First postmaster. School trustee.

Bank director. He opened the first store in Texas City, and (here's one that'll make you smile) he had the first telephone. In a town still finding its legs, Frank Davison had a wire running to the future.

That house stood through storm after storm, the Gulf doing its level worst, and the old cypress held. But 1947; that's the year that hurt most. The marker doesn't mince words: the 1947 disaster dealt the Davison Home its hardest blow.

And still it stood. Some buildings just refuse to quit. A Victorian survivor on the Texas coast, carrying the memory of firsts (first child, first store, first telephone), and still standing to tell the tale.

What the marker says

Built by Frank and Florence Haven Davison, 1895-1897. Sturdy Victorian structure, of cypress. Home of first child born in Texas City (formerly named Shoal Point). Survivor of many storms; suffered most in 1947 disaster. Davison, prominent civic leader and pioneer in Texas City, was first in many capacities: city commissioner, postmaster, school trustee, bank director. Opened the first store in Texas City, and had the first telephone. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967