Joe A. Kelley Home

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight from the record. Out here in Utopia country, most of what the pioneers built is long gone. The land swallowed it up, the years wore it down, or fire made the decision for everybody.

But every now and then, one stubborn structure holds on. The Joe A. Kelley Home is one of those.

One of the community's few pioneer homes still standing, and it has been standing since 1865. That is not a typo. Eighteen sixty-five.

Now, the Kelley family wasn't new to this country when Joe put up that house. They had come to Old Waresville all the way back in 1852, making them about as pioneer as pioneer gets in this part of Texas. Joe Kelley didn't just build a house, though.

He built a whole operation. He bought several thousand acres of land from Lusgarda Grandee, established a ranch, and then put up a two-room house with two back shed rooms. Modest by modern measure, but out here in 1865, that was a serious statement of intention.

And he built it to last. The walls are preserved with shiplap exterior, and inside, beaded ceilings. That's craftsmanship.

That's somebody who expected the structure to outlive him, and he was right. Now here's the detail that'll get you thinking. The Old Sabinal-Comanche trail crosses right through that ranch property.

The same ground where Joe Kelley ran his cattle, travelers and traders had been moving through long before any house was ever raised on it. The trail was there first, and the trail is still there. Some things just refuse to disappear.

The Kelley home is one of them.

What the marker says

One of Utopia community's few pioneer homes still standing. Built in 1865 by Joe A. Kelley, member of pioneer family that came to Old Waresville in 1852. Kelley bought several thousand acres of land from Lusgarda Grandee; established ranch and constructed two-room house with two back shed rooms. Walls preserved with shiplap exterior, beaded ceilings inside. Old Sabinal-Comanche trail crosses ranch property. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.