DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's what this old house has seen. Back in 1854, a man named J. T.
Morehead put up a dogtrot cabin near Grapevine, out in Tarrant County. Now if you know anything about dogtrot cabins, you know they're two rooms with an open breezeway running between them — practical, honest, Texas. That's what Morehead built.
Simple. Sturdy. And apparently just the beginning, because somebody came along later and added two more rooms and a loft, then went ahead and covered those original logs with siding.
The old bones hidden right there under the surface. Then, in 1857, the property changed hands. It was sold to R.
M. Gano — born 1830, died 1913 — and here's where this cabin's story gets genuinely interesting. Gano was not one thing.
He was a doctor, a minister, and a Confederate general. Three callings that don't always travel together. This house sheltered his family through the whole span of the Civil War, 1861 to 1865.
All of it. Whatever those years carried — and they carried plenty — this structure stood through them. After the war, the Gano family eventually settled in Dallas, leaving the old place behind.
Gano sold it, and the house was remodeled again, the layers of its life stacking up like rings in old timber. For a good long while it just sat with its history, mostly unannounced. Then came 1974, and somebody decided this building deserved better than to disappear.
It was restored and moved to this very site. A dogtrot cabin from 1854, touched by that many hands, that many seasons, that many American chapters — still standing. Some things are just built to last.
What the marker says
J. T. Morehead built this dogtrot cabin near Grapevine in Tarrant County in 1854. Later two rooms and a loft were added and the logs covered with siding. In 1857 the property was sold to R. M. Gano (1830 - 1913), a doctor, minister, and Confederate general. It housed his family until after the Civil War (1861-65). They later settled in Dallas. The structure was again remodeled after Gano sold it. In 1974 it was restored and moved to this site. RTHL - 1975