Dick P. Moore House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Now, Forney, Texas had herself a run, a real, honest-to-goodness economic boom that stretched from 1873 all the way to 1929. Over half a century of prosperity, and if you were paying attention, you could see the evidence of it rise up right out of the ground in the form of houses.

Fine ones. Ones built to last. And in 1910, right in the thick of all that good fortune, one particular house went up that's worth stoppin' for.

They call it the Dick P. Moore House, and it's been standin' ever since. Dick Parmenas Moore came to Forney by way of Georgia; born in 1869, a merchant by trade, and a man who owned a large amount of cotton acreage in the area.

Cotton and commerce. That's a combination that'll build you something solid. And solid is exactly what he built.

The house itself is what they call an American four-square style: sturdy, balanced, the kind of shape that says this family isn't goin' anywhere. But Moore wasn't content to leave it plain. Those porch details carry Classical Revival influences, a little flourish that says prosperity deserves to be dressed up every now and then.

Moore passed in 1943, but his wife Nancy (Nancy Pinkard Moore) she stayed right there in that house. Stayed until her death in 1958. Nearly five decades that home held her.

Some houses are just structures. Others hold on to the people inside them like they mean it. The Dick P.

Moore House is that second kind.

What the marker says

Built in 1910, this home dates from a period of economic boom enjoyed by the town of Forney from 1873 until 1929. It was constructed for Georgia native Dick Parmenas Moore (1869-1943), a merchant who owned a large amount of cotton acreage in the area. His wife, Nancy (Pinkard), resided here until her death in 1958. The American four-square style house features Classical Revival influences in the porch details. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985