E. J. Jenkins House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1893, a man named Charlie Jenkins, a prominent builder in Bryan, Texas, picked up his tools and got to work on something special. Not for a client.

Not for a stranger. For his brother. Edwin James Jenkins, known around town as E.J., had been in Bryan since 1878, having come all the way from England to put down roots in this corner of Texas.

And Charlie, well, Charlie built him a house worth putting down roots in. We're talking a classic Queen Anne style home, the kind that makes you slow your car down even now. A domed tower rising up like Charlie wanted everybody in Bryan to know his brother had arrived.

A wraparound veranda for long evenings and longer conversations. This was not a modest gesture. Now E.J.

Jenkins himself was no small figure in this town. He ran a drugstore in downtown Bryan for over fifty years. Fifty years behind the same counter, serving the same community, watching Bryan grow up around him.

Along the way he served as Mayor and as a City Councilman. A man born in England in 1867, who came to Bryan as a boy, and became as Bryan as Bryan gets. The house his brother built for him stayed in the Jenkins family all the way until 1971.

E.J. Jenkins lived until 1959. That house outlasted him, still standing, still wearing that domed tower like a crown.

Some things Charlie Jenkins built to last, and it turns out he knew exactly what he was doing.

What the marker says

This house was constructed in 1893 by prominent Bryan builder Charlie Jenkins for his brother Edwin James Jenkins (1867-1959). A native of England, E.J. Jenkins came to Bryan in 1878. He operated a drugstore in downtown Bryan for over 50 years and served as Mayor and a City Councilman. The classic Queen Anne style home, which features a domed tower and wraparound veranda, remained in the Jenkins family until the property was sold in 1971. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982