House Built by A. T. Monroe

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this one, and it's a story worth slowing down for. Now, somewhere in Houston County there stands a house. Not just any house.

A house built by a man named A. T. Munroe, and if that last name rings a bell, well, it should.

A. T. Munroe was the nephew of the United States president who issued the Monroe Doctrine.

Let that settle in for a second. The nephew of that Monroe, out here in Texas, swinging an adze and raising walls. And what walls they are.

Hand-hewn Louisiana heart oak, set over brick inner walls. That is not a house that apologizes for itself. That is a house built to last, built with intention, built by someone who knew what he was doing and maybe knew he was doing something worth remembering.

The place earned a reputation, too. It was noted as a center of social activities, which in the parlance of its era means people gathered there, people talked there, things happened there that mattered to the community around it. Then, in 1911, the house passed into the family of George W.

Crook, a prominent attorney. And it stayed there. Some things, when they find the right home, simply stay.

A house built by the nephew of a president, framed in Louisiana heart oak, a gathering place, and then a family home since 1911. History has a way of settling into the walls of a place, quiet as mortar, solid as brick. This one's got plenty of it.

What the marker says

House built by A. T. Munroe, nephew of U.S. president who issued the Monroe Doctrine. Structure is hand-hewn Louisiana heart oak over brick inner walls. Noted as a center of social activities. Since 1911 in the family of prominent attorney George W. Crook. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965