Frontier Colonial Home

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about this place, so let's take it from the top. Now, out here in Montgomery County, there's a house that's been standing since 1845, and that alone ought to make you slow the car down a little. This is the Frontier Colonial Home, the oldest house in Montgomery, and it has a story worth sittin' with for a spell.

It comes complete with a classic porch, the kind that invites you to stay awhile, which, given this house's history, a whole lot of people did. For generations. The builder was Dr.

E. J. Arnold, a settler who came all the way from Connecticut to put down roots in this corner of Texas.

Now think about that journey, from Connecticut to the Texas frontier, and what it must have taken to arrive here and decide, yes, this is the place. In 1845, Dr. Arnold built this colonial home, and it became the cornerstone of something lasting.

But here's the part that really sticks with you. Before that house ever went up, there was already something on this lot. Back in 1835, a log cabin had been built right here on the same ground.

And that cabin didn't get torn down or forgotten when the main house rose up around it. No, it kept right on serving a purpose. Dr.

Arnold used it as his doctor's office. The old and the new, standing side by side, each doing its job. That's a very Texas kind of arrangement.

The home passed through the years and through the hands of the Simonton family, descendants of the builder himself, and it remained their home for several generations. Some places hold a family, and some families hold a place. This one managed both.

The house that Dr. Arnold built in 1845, on a lot that already had a decade of history behind it, is still here. Still watching the road.

What the marker says

With classic porch. Oldest house in Montgomery, built 1845 by settler from Connecticut, Dr. E. J. Arnold. Earlier home, log cabin built on this lot in 1835, continued in use as doctor's office. For several generations home of Simonton family, descendants of the builder. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964