Eckert House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Eckert House in Tom Green County. Now, when you want to understand a house, you start with the people who built it, and when you want to understand Oscar Eckert, you start with tin. Oscar was born in 1856, came over from Germany, and by the time he and his wife Martha settled into this corner of Tom Green County, that man had worn just about every working hat a fellow could wear.

Farmer. Tinsmith. Windmill maker.

Saloon keeper. That is not a résumé, that is a legend. Martha, also a German immigrant, was born in 1871, and together they purchased this lot in 1910.

Then Oscar called up his brother Henry, and the two of them got to work. They built this residence themselves, every bit of it except the brickwork, and they finished the job in 1911. Now here is where Oscar's tinsmith soul really shows.

Pressed tin isn't just a trim detail on this house. It covers the roof. It covers the ceilings.

It runs along some of the interior walls on the first floor. The man knew his material, and he trusted it, and he put it everywhere he could. Oscar and Martha raised seven children in that house.

Oscar passed in 1927, Martha in 1934. Then, come 1937, a new family name settled onto this address. That would be the Fairbanks family, and the marker tells us this house has been known as the Fairbanks residence ever since.

Mr. C. A., known to folks as Doug, Fairbanks was a grocer and a realtor.

Two houses, two families, one roof covered in pressed tin, still standing in Tom Green County to tell the whole story.

What the marker says

Oscar (1856-1927) and Martha Geissler Eckert (1871-1934), both German immigrants to the U.S., purchased this lot in 1910. Oscar and his brother Henry built this residence, except for the brickwork, completing the construction in 1911. Pressed tin is a dominant architectural feature of the house. It covers the roof as well as ceilings and some interior walls on the first floor. Eckert was a farmer who also worked as a tinsmith, windmill maker, and saloon keeper. The Eckerts had seven children. (1985) Since 1937 this house has been known as the Fairbanks residence. Mr. C. A. (Doug) Fairbanks was a grocer and realtor.