George Washington Baines House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Bell County has its share of storied ground, but this particular patch carries a name that echoes all the way to the Oval Office. We're talking about the George Washington Baines House, a one-and-a-half-story frame house built in the 1860s.

And if that name, Baines, tickles something in the back of your memory, well, hold on to that feeling. We'll get there. The house was the residence of the Reverend George Washington Baines from 1870 to 1883.

The man himself was born in 1809 and died in 1883, and in the years between, he managed to be a pioneer Baptist preacher, a missionary, an editor, and an educator. That's four callings. Most folks have trouble committing to one.

Now, the house he lived in wasn't just any house. It carries the hallmarks of the Greek Revival style. A distinctive front porch with square columns, transoms, delicate ornamentation.

The kind of place that says something about the man inside it. Dignified. Purposeful.

And here's the thing that gives this whole story its long shadow. The Reverend George Washington Baines was the great-grandfather of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson. That middle name, Baines, didn't come from nowhere.

It came from this house, this man, this ground right here in Bell County.

What the marker says

Built in the 1860s, this house was the residence of the Rev. George Washington Baines (1809-83) from 1870 to 1883. A pioneer Baptist preacher, missionary, editor, and educator, the Rev. Baines was the great-grandfather of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The one-and-one-half-story frame house features characteristics of the Greek Revival style, including the distinctive front porch with square columns, transoms, and delicate ornamentation. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981