Elijah Ray House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. We're talkin' about the Elijah Ray House, right here in Goliad County. Now, Elijah Ray was a native of Alabama, born in 1825, and he first set eyes on Texas in 1847.

Something about this place must have spoken to him, because he kept coming back to it in his mind. Then the Civil War arrived, running from 1861 to 1865, and right in the middle of all that upheaval, Elijah Ray did something that tells you a great deal about the kind of man he was. He purchased this very property.

While the country was tearing itself apart, he was putting down roots. He built this home for his family, and he built it to last. The structure has a central hallway and a two-story porch with decorative brackets, the kind of craftsmanship that says, I am not going anywhere.

And he wasn't. Elijah Ray stayed the course all the way to 1902. After Elijah passed, his son George acquired the homestead, and George Ray was cut from the same cloth.

A well-known stockman, just like his father. But George didn't stop there. He also became a noted oilman and banker.

Father builds the house. Son builds an empire around it. Some properties just seem to draw that kind of story right up out of the ground.

What the marker says

A native of Alabama, Elijah Ray (1825 - 1902) first came to Texas in 1847. He purchased this property during the Civil War (1861-65) and built this home for his family. Like many early Texas dwellings, the structure has a central hallway and a two-story porch with decorative brackets. Elijah Ray's son George later acquired the homestead. A well-known stockman like his father, George Ray was also a noted oilman and banker. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984