DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Dr. A. H.
A. and Ruby Jones House in Bowie County. Now, some houses just sit there. Four walls, a roof, done.
But then there are houses that tell you something the moment you lay eyes on them — and this one, friends, has been talkin' since 1938. Let's start with Ruby Lee Williams. Born in Texarkana in 1900, the daughter of George and Carrie Williams.
In 1928, Ruby wed a man named Austin Hervin Archibald Jones — Jamaica-born, Howard University-educated, and by all accounts a very successful dentist. That is a name that fills a room all by itself. Dr.
A. H. A.
Jones. You say it slow and it sounds like an introduction at a formal dinner. But here's the thing about this story — Ruby is the one who designed the house.
In 1938, she put her vision on paper, and she made sure African American craftsmen were the ones to build it. What they raised up together was a bungalow-style home with decorative brickwork and — now pay attention here — a unique cubical tower. A cubical tower.
In Texarkana. You don't forget a detail like that, and you weren't meant to. The Joneses moved in, and it wasn't long before that house became something more than a home.
It became a destination. See, touring African American entertainers needed places to stay, and the Jones family opened their doors. Louis Armstrong came through those doors.
Dinah Washington came through those doors. Let that settle for a moment — the trumpet that rewrote American music, the voice they called the Queen of the Blues, guests in a home that a woman from Texarkana drew up herself and had built with her own vision. Ruby Lee Williams Jones was born in 1900.
She passed in 1979. Dr. Austin Hervin Archibald Jones was born in 1901.
He passed in 1962. The house they made together is still standing. Some houses just sit there.
This one keeps the company it always kept.
What the marker says
Ruby Lee Williams (1900-1979) was born in Texarkana to George and Carrie Williams. In 1928, she wed Jamaica-born Austin Hervin Archibald Jones (1901-1962), a successful dentist with a degree from Howard University. Ruby designed this bungalow-style home, utilizing African American craftsmen to build it in 1938. The home features decorative brickwork and a unique cubical tower. The Jones family often opened its home to touring African American entertainers, including Louis Armstrong and Dinah Washington. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002