DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to give it its due. Now, if you want to talk about the deep roots of north Texas, you could do a lot worse than standing right here — because this farmstead takes you all the way back to the beginning. Not near the beginning.
The beginning. This land was part of the Peters Colony — the very first settlement in north Texas. William Smalling Peters received a land grant in 1841 to help populate the newly-formed Republic of Texas.
That's right, Texas was its own republic, freshly minted, and Peters had a mandate: bring people in. Fill this land up. So the Sharrock family packed up from Illinois and made the long haul south.
Everard Sharrock, Jr. — born 1826, and he would live all the way to 1913, which is a story in itself — received 640 acres and got to work. In 1847, he built his homestead right here on this ground. A log cabin.
A log barn. A hand-dug well. A root cellar.
All of it built from eastern red cedar and limestone, materials the land itself provided. Every timber in those walls was hand-hewn, with v-notches cut at the corners to lock the adjoining logs together. Up at the roofline, the rafters were joined using mortise and tenon joints — a technique that eliminated the need for a ridge beam entirely.
That is not improvisation, friends. That is craft. Now, the construction method itself carries a whole history.
The notching and joinery traces back to German and Swedish immigrants, while the one-room rectangular design came out of Scots-Irish and English influences. What you're looking at when you look at these buildings is a conversation between cultures, worked out in wood and stone. But here's where the story takes a turn.
In 1853 — just six years after Everard Sharrock, Jr. built all this — the family left Texas. Just like that, the land passed to an Irish immigrant named Thomas J. Young.
And it was Thomas's son, Andrew A. Young, born 1843 and gone by 1900, who built the farmhouse on this property in 1872. Other outbuildings followed in the early twentieth century, added by subsequent owners as the years rolled on.
Then in 2006, the city of Dallas received the property. And in 2013, the Sharrock site became a city of Dallas landmark — official recognition that what stands here matters. And here is why it matters.
Today, this farmstead is the earliest known collection of log structures in the entire Dallas area still standing on its original site. Not moved. Not reconstructed somewhere else for safekeeping.
Right here. The same ground Everard Sharrock, Jr. chose back in 1847, when north Texas was new and the Republic that claimed it was barely older than he was. Some things, if you're careful with them, last.
What the marker says
This farmstead was part of the first settlement in north Texas, the Peters Colony. William Smalling Peters received a land grant in 1841 to help populate the newly-formed Republic of Texas. The Sharrock family moved from Illinois. After receiving 640 acres, Everard Sharrock, Jr. (1826-1913) built his homestead here in 1847. The family left Texas in 1853 and the land passed to Irish immigrant Thomas J. Young. His son Andrew A. Young (1843-1900) built the farmhouse in 1872. Other outbuildings were added in the early twentieth century by subsequent owners. The farmstead includes a log cabin, log barn, hand-dug well and root cellar built of eastern red cedar and limestone, all dating from 1847. The buildings represent pre-railroad folk log construction and demonstrate how settlers used local materials. Settlers used v-notches at the corners to connect adjoining hand-hewn logs. Rafters were connected at the roof line with mortise and tenon joints, thus eliminating the need for a ridge beam. This popular construction method originated with German and Swedish immigrants, while the one-room rectangular design came from Scots-Irish and English influences. The city of Dallas received the property in 2006 and the Sharrock site became a city of Dallas landmark in 2013. Today, the farmstead is the earliest known collection of log structures in the Dallas area still standing on its original site. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2016