Easley Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Samuel Allen Easley came into this world in South Carolina in 1851, and by the time he was just one year old, his parents had already pointed the wagon toward Texas. That's a baby who had no say in the matter and ended up exactly where he needed to be.

The family put down roots along the San Gabriel River in Williamson County, on a large amount of acreage, the kind of land that asks a lot of a man and gives a lot back if he's willing. And Samuel Allen Easley was willing. He managed that family farm for much of his life, season after season, year after year, doing what needed doing out there along the San Gabriel.

Then in 1913, he and his wife Roberta, born a Crow, made a different kind of move. They came to Georgetown and they built something. Not a grand estate, not a showplace.

A bungalow. But don't let that word fool you. This bungalow came with a broad hip roof, bracketed eaves, and a wraparound porch, and if you know anything about a Texas summer, you know that wraparound porch was not a luxury.

It was a philosophy. Samuel Allen Easley lived until 1933, and that house he and Roberta built stayed in the Easley family all the way until 1968. A man born in South Carolina, carried to Texas at one year old, and the home he finally chose to build outlasted him by decades.

Some roots, it turns out, take a while to find the right ground.

What the marker says

A native of South Carolina, Samuel Allen Easley (1851-1933) came to Texas with his parents at the age of one. They settled on a large amount of acreage along the San Gabriel River in Williamson County. After managing the family farm for much of his life, Easley and his wife, Roberta (Crow), moved to Georgetown in 1913 and built this bungalow. The house, which features a broad hip roof, bracketed eaves, and wraparound porch, remained in the Easley family until 1968. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984.