Hill House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker on Hill House tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Now, George Hill didn't start his story in Texas. He came from Tennessee, as a child, with his family, and they put down roots in Moody.

That's where George grew up, working the family farm, learning what it meant to earn what you've got. But somewhere along the way, George set his sights on something beyond the fields. At nineteen years old, he walked into a local hardware store and started working.

That's the first chapter. The second chapter is that he eventually purchased that same store. The boy who came to Moody with nothing but Tennessee dirt on his boots wound up owning the place.

In 1904, George Hill had a home built for his family. A bungalow, and not just any bungalow. This one carries Queen Anne style influences, the kind of design that was typical of what many families were building at the turn of the century.

There was a moment in time when that style meant something, when it said a family had arrived, had planted themselves somewhere permanent. George held onto that home until 1910, when he sold it to his brother Charles. Same family, same town, different hands.

George Hill, born 1878, died 1958, left a mark on Moody that's still standing. That bungalow is proof that sometimes the best stories don't travel far. They just put down roots and stay.

What the marker says

George Hill (1878-1958) came to Texas from Tennessee as a child. His family settled in Moody and he worked on family farm. He began working in a local hardware store when he was nineteen and later purchased the store. Hill had this home built for his family in 1904 and sold it to his brother Charles in 1910. The bungalow, which exhibits Queen Anne style influences, is typical of those built by many families at the turn of the century.