J. E. Millhollon Ranch House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the J. E. Millhollon Ranch House out in Martin County.

Around 1900, J. E. and Nettie Millhollon made a decision. They gathered their cattle, pointed them north and west, and trailed the whole operation from Glasscock County to Martin County.

When the dust settled, they had claimed a homesite and thirty-four sections of land. Thirty-four. That's not a small ambition.

That is a statement. The Millhollons planted themselves in the community too, becoming business and church leaders in Stanton. These were people who built things, in every sense of the word.

And in 1907, they made that literal. They hired a man named N. H.

Hunt, out of Big Spring, to erect the ranch house. Now Hunt wasn't just any carpenter for hire. He was a builder who had put up many structures along the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which is to say he knew how to make something that would last.

The house went up, and it stood. It stood long enough that by 1970, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Wright had taken on the work of restoring it, a project they were still carrying forward when they bought the property outright in 1974.

So what you have here is a house that crossed the twentieth century on the strength of cattle, community, craftsmanship, and two families who believed it was worth saving. J. E. and Nettie Millhollon trailed a herd across county lines and put down roots.

Hunt built them something worthy of those roots. And the Wrights made sure it endured. Some places earn their history.

This one worked for it.

What the marker says

About 1900, J. E. and Nettie (Bell) Millhollon trailed their cattle from Glasscock to Martin County, acquiring this homesite and 34 sections of land. Business and church leaders in Stanton, the couple had this house erected in 1907 by N. H. Hunt of Big Spring, who built many structures along the Texas & Pacific Railroad. The restoration, begun 1970 by Mr. and Mrs. Norman Wright, who bought the property in 1974. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1974