DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell this one the way the marker tells it — so hold on, because this house has got more stories than it has rooms, and it has fifteen of those. Edgar Lathgro Walker came out of Tennessee, and Nannie E. Lewis came out of Kentucky, and somewhere between those two states they found each other and got married in 1891.
They had two young daughters — Lena and Alma — and at some point the family made a visit down to Gladewater, Texas, to see E.L.'s brother William. Now, that kind of visit where you come to call and just... never leave? That's a particular Texas tradition, and the Walkers embraced it fully.
Their third daughter, Bessie, was born right there in Gladewater in 1898, so you might say the town made its case pretty convincingly. E.L. was a graduate of the Cincinnati School of Medicine, which meant Gladewater suddenly had itself a doctor and, before long, a drugstore to go along with him. The man was not thinking small.
On October 23, 1895, he purchased a site from W.S. and Sara Austin, and he and Nannie set about building something that would outlast just about everything around it. Sometime before 1910, they finished the house. And when I say house, understand that word is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
This was a three-story Neoclassical structure built of concrete blocks — symmetrical façade, a pronounced two-story portico, Ionic columns, a five-bay front, a pedimented dormer window, and not one but two concrete basements. The place had fifteen rooms and ten fireplaces, which means somebody was keeping warm no matter where they stood. There was even a two-floor elevator, which in early Gladewater must have seemed like something out of a dream.
E.L. had originally intended the third floor as an infirmary — a doctor building his own medical floor right into his home, which tells you something about the man's sense of purpose. That space ended up serving as an attic instead, with access up to a rooftop widow's walk, where you could stand and look out over a property that eventually stretched all the way to the Sabine River. Barns, a cookhouse, oil wells and derricks, oil storage tanks — the Walkers weren't just living in Gladewater, they were woven into it.
Now, that concrete balustrade they'd planned for the second-floor porch? Turned out it was too heavy to use up there. Too heavy for the porch.
So it became a fence. A fancy, Neoclassical, absolutely immovable fence, and honestly, that might be the most Texas solution to an architecture problem ever recorded. Time moved through that house the way it does.
The elevator — that elegant, improbable two-floor elevator — was donated to a World War II scrap metal drive and never came back. Rooms were added. The family stayed.
After E.L. and Nannie were gone, their daughter Bessie and her husband Otto Staerker moved in and carried the Walker name forward under that roof. The house stayed in the family all the way until 1969. Since then, other owners have taken up the responsibility, keeping the place standing, keeping it a landmark, keeping it a link to the Walker family and to early Gladewater.
A doctor from Tennessee and a woman from Kentucky stopped in to visit family and decided to stay — and what they built on that October purchase in 1895 is still there, concrete and columns and all, a three-story argument that some roots, once they take hold, simply don't let go.
What the marker says
Edgar Lathgro Walker of Tennessee wed Nannie E. Lewis, a native of Kentucky, in 1891. The couple later brought their two young daughters, Lena and Alma, to Gladewater to visit E.L.'s brother, William, and they decided to stay. Their third daughter, Bessie, was born in Gladewater in 1898. E.L., a graduate of the Cincinnati School of Medicine, opened a medical practice and drugstore. He purchased this site from W.S. and Sara Austin on October 23, 1895, and he and Nannie completed their new home sometime before 1910. Their property eventually extended all the way to the Sabine River and included several barns, a cookhouse, oil wells and derricks, and oil storage tanks. The Walker House, with its main body constructed of concrete blocks, is Neoclassical in design, with a symmetrical façade, pronounced two-story portico, Ionic columns, five-bay front and pedimented dormer window. The three-story structure also has two concrete basements. Initially intended for use as an infirmary, the third floor space served as an attic with access to a rooftop widow's walk. Original features included ten fireplaces, a two-floor elevator and fifteen rooms. A concrete balustrade, too heavy for use on the second-floor porch, became a unique fence. Changes over the years included additional rooms and the removal of the elevator, donated to a World War II scrap metal drive. Following the deaths of her parents, Bessie (Walker) and husband Otto Staerker lived in the house, which stayed in the family until 1969. Subsequent owners have ensured the house remains a landmark, a link to the Walker family and early Gladewater. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004