Ende-Gaillard House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You know, some houses just refuse to die. The Ende-Gaillard House in Hunt County is one of them, and its story starts, like so many good Texas stories, with somebody coming from a long way off.

Charles Frederick von Ende was born in Germany in 1832, and by 1857 he had made his way to Greenville and set up a mercantile business right on the town square. Now, that alone might be enough for some men. Plant your flag, open your store, call it a life.

But Ende was not that kind of man. He served on the school board. He served on the city council.

He helped establish the local Odd Fellows lodge. The community had a job that needed doing, odds are Ende had a hand in it. And somewhere in the middle of all that civic industry, between 1857 and 1859, he built a home.

Built it for his bride, Amelia Reinecker. That house, right there just north of the courthouse square, is where this story lives. Time moved on the way time does.

Ende and Amelia had a daughter, Louise, and Louise married a man named Dr. David L. Gaillard.

In 1883, Louise and her husband bought the home from her family, and the house took on a new name to go with its new owners. The Ende-Gaillard House. Louise held onto it for a long time.

A very long time. She died in 1945, and when she did, the house passed out of family hands and into the business of a lumberyard. Now, a lumberyard is not where an old family home wants to end up.

Demolition was on the table. The house that Ende built for Amelia, the house where Louise grew up and grew old, was looking at the end of the road. But here is where the story turns.

In 1957, the Ende-Gaillard House was moved to a city park. Saved, at least for the moment, from the lumberyard's shadow. And then in 1996, it was moved again, this time to the American Cotton Museum.

Two moves across nearly four decades, and still standing. Some houses, I'm telling you, just have a will of their own.

What the marker says

Ende-Gaillard House German native Charles Frederick von Ende (b. 1832) came to Greenville in 1857 and established a mercantile business on the town square. He became one of the community's most active civic leaders, serving on the school board and city council, and helping to establish the local Odd Fellows lodge. In 1857-1859, Ende built this home for his bride, Amelia Reinecker. Their daughter, Louise, and her husband, Dr. David l. Gaillard, bought the home in 1883. After Louise's death in 1945, the house became part of a lumberyard and was threatened with demolition. Originally located just north of the courthouse square, the Ende-Gaillard House was moved to a city park in 1957 and then to the American Cotton Museum in 1996. (2002)