Hudgins-Blake House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Hudgins-Blake House, standing in Marion County. Now, some houses just hold time differently than others. This one has thirteen-foot ceilings, wide board floors, and door and window styling fine enough to make you stop and look twice.

It was built during the 1855 to 1867 era, by a man named William P. Hudgins, and from the start it was the kind of place that meant something. After Hudgins, the house passed through a series of short-term owners.

You know how that goes. A place like that, sitting there with all that craftsmanship, waiting for somebody who'd actually stay. And then, in 1897, it found its people.

W. L. and Mattie A. Blake bought the house.

Both of them were teachers at Jefferson Central School, which the marker identifies as a Negro school, and both were prominent in that community. The Blakes weren't short-term owners. Their family held onto that house for sixty years.

Sixty years of those wide board floors underfoot, sixty years of living beneath those thirteen-foot ceilings. That is a family that knew what they had. When the house eventually changed hands, it went to Bill R. and Ella McDonald, who purchased it in 1957 and took on the work of restoring it.

And then, since 1961, the house has been preserved by Mrs. W. L.

Jackson, known as Nellie. Built in one era, carried through several lifetimes, restored, and kept. The Hudgins-Blake House is the kind of story that doesn't need embellishment.

The house itself already made the argument for sticking around.

What the marker says

Residence with fine door and window styling; large rooms; 13' ceilings; wide board floors. Built during 1855-67 era, by William P. Hudgins, ;the house had a series of short-term owners before W. L. and Mattie A. Blake, prominent Jefferson Central (Negro) School teachers, bought it in 1897; their family owned it for 60 years. Restored by 1957 purchasers, Bill R. and Ella McDonald, house has been preserved since 1961 by Mrs. W. L. (Nellie) Jackson. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973