John Barry Henderson Home

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's what Duane's got for you on the John Barry Henderson Home in Harrison County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good long way. The rear wing of this house was standing before 1861.

Before the war. Before a whole lot of things. And in those early days, the road running between Shreveport and Daingerfield passed right by here, making this place a way station on that stage route.

Travelers came through, rested, moved on. The house saw it all. Then the Civil War arrived, and Henderson himself was in the middle of it, furnishing beef to the Confederate Army.

That was the man's contribution to that conflict. When the smoke cleared and the country started putting itself back together, Henderson got to building. The main part of the house went up between 1868 and 1871.

And here is where the story gets interesting. He didn't haul in fancy materials from somewhere else. He used what the ground right there offered, hand-cut local iron-ore rock, thick walls of it on the ground floor.

That stone work turned out to be something rare. We're talking about the only nineteenth century native stone home in the entire county. Just the one.

Up on the second floor, the construction shifts to frame, and there's a narrow cantilevered porch up there with ornamental railing, a little elegance sitting right on top of all that iron-ore permanence. Now here's the part that really lands. That house, rear wing and main part and ornamental railing and all, was still in the family of Henderson when the marker was written.

Some things, it turns out, are built to stay.

What the marker says

Rear wing built before 1861. Way station on route of Shreveport-to-Daingerfield stage. Main part built 1868-1871 by Henderson, who during Civil War had furnished beef to the Confederate Army. Thick ground floor walls are of hand-cut local iron-ore rock (only 19th century native stone home in county). Frame second story has narrow cantilevered porch with ornamental railing. Still in family of Henderson. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1963