DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the James Walker Log House, out in Washington County. Now, if you want to talk about old — and I mean genuinely, stubbornly, against-all-odds old — let me point you toward this place. This is one of the earliest surviving log houses in all of Texas.
Not commemorated. Not reconstructed from scratch. Surviving.
There's a difference, and that difference is two centuries of cedar. James Walker was one of the Old 300 — that's what history calls the original colonists who came to settle in Stephen F. Austin's colony.
James and his wife Catherine, born a Miller, made that journey with their children. And after July 21, 1824, when James received a land grant of one league — about four thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight acres — on New Year's and Woodward's Creeks, this family put down roots. They built a house.
Rough-hewn cedar logs, a square floor plan, a rear shed, a rubble stone chimney standing proud on the east side. A one-and-a-half-story double-pen structure, with a three-bay porch out front held up by square wood posts. Two main rooms connected by a doorway centered right in the log partition wall.
And up above — you can still see the evidence — a series of high notches in the walls where a loft room once sat. The original rooms date from 1824. The shed?
Original, or close enough to it that nobody's arguing. This was home to James and Catherine Walker and their descendants from 1824 to 1888. Their sons — John and James, Jr. — both participated in the Texas Revolution of 1836.
And after their father's death, those two sons took up the work of developing the family land. Now here's where the story gets a little restless, because this house has moved. Not metaphorically.
Literally moved. It was originally built at an unknown location downhill from where you're looking at it now. In 1888, when a man named John Wallace acquired the property, the house was moved up to the hilltop.
Then in 1921, the Bockhorn family moved it again — about two hundred and fifty feet, right here to this site — and used it as a barn. A barn. One of the oldest log houses in Texas, pulling barn duty.
But the bones held. Inside, the exposed logs are still chinked with lime mortar. The pine ceilings are there.
The doors carry their original paint and hardware. Board and batten shutters on the windows and doors. And in 1986, the house was restored using structural evidence and period historic details as design sources for the missing elements.
What you have here is a house that was home, became a barn, and came back to itself. Cedar logs from 1824, still standing in Washington County. James and Catherine Walker built something that outlasted nearly everything around it — and that, friend, is a legacy that doesn't need any embellishment from me.
What the marker says
THIS IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST SURVIVING LOG HOUSES IN TEXAS. IT WAS HOME TO JAMES AND CATHERINE (MILLER) WALKER AND THEIR DESCENDANTS FROM 1824 TO 1888. JAMES WAS ONE OF THE "OLD 300", ORIGINAL COLONISTS TO SETTLE IN STEPHEN F. AUSTIN'S COLONY. HE AND CATHERINE SETTLED HERE WITH THEIR CHILDREN AFTER JULY 21, 1824, WHEN JAMES RECEIVED A LAND GRANT OF ONE LEAGUE (ABOUT 4,428 ACRES) ON NEW YEAR'S AND WOODWARD'S CREEKS. SONS JOHN AND JAMES, JR., PARTICIPATED IN THE 1836 TEXAS REVOLUTION AND DEVELOPED THE FAMILY LAND AFTER THEIR FATHER'S DEATH. THE HOUSE WAS BUILT AT AN UNKNOWN LOCATION DOWNHILL FROM THE PRESENT SITE. IT WAS MOVED TO THE HILLTOP IN 1888, WHEN JOHN WALLACE ACQUIRED THE PROPERTY. IN 1921 THE HOUSE WAS MOVED ABOUT 250 FEET TO THIS SITE BY THE BOCKHORN FAMILY, WHO USED IT AS A BARN. THE 1 1/2-STORY DOUBLE-PEN LOG HOUSE IS BUILT OF ROUGH-HEWN CEDAR LOGS COVERED BY HORIZONTAL SIDING. THE SQUARE FLOOR PLAN INCLUDES A REAR SHED OF HEAVY TIMBER CONSTRUCTION. THE ORIGINAL ROOMS DATE FROM 1824, AND THE SHED IS ORIGINAL OR AN EARLY ADDITION. THE FRONT FA��ADE, WITH A THREE-BAY PORCH SUPPORTED BY SQUARE WOOD POSTS, HAS A SINGLE DOOR IN THE WEST PEN, AND A DOOR AND 6/6 PANE WINDOW IN THE EAST PEN. WINDOWS AND DOORS HAVE BOARD AND BATTEN SHUTTERS. A RUBBLE STONE CHIMNEY IS THE MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE ON THE EAST SIDE. THE HOUSE'S TWO MAIN ROOMS ARE CONNECTED BY A DOORWAY CENTERED IN THE LOG PARTITION WALL. INTACT INTERIOR MATERIALS INCLUDE EXPOSED LOGS CHINKED WITH LIME MORTAR, PINE CEILINGS, AND DOORS WITH ORIGINAL PAINT AND HARDWARE. A SERIES OF HIGH NOTCHES ON THE WALLS INDICATE THERE WAS A LOFT ROOM ABOVE. THE HOUSE WAS RESTORED IN 1986 USING STRUCTURAL EVIDENCE AND PERIOD HISTORIC DETAILS AS DESIGN SOURCES FOR MISSING ELEMENTS. TODAY THE HOUSE IS A MOST VALUABLE REMINDER OF THE EARLY HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE OF TEXAS.