Keith-Traylor House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Keith-Traylor House in Columbus, Colorado County. Now settle in, because this one's got a little something extra tucked inside it. Two families, one house, and a story that folded back on itself in a way that almost seems too tidy to be true.

John Wilbur Keith was a Civil War veteran, and when he came to Columbus in 1870, he brought with him his wife, Haseltine Long. Haseltine was no ordinary settler's wife. She was the daughter of a prominent Beaumont businessman, and together she and John set about building themselves a proper home.

They finished it around 1871. A center-passage design, the kind that catches a breeze and holds a family. Fine craftsmanship, late Victorian in its bones.

Then in 1875, the Keiths sold the place to a local merchant named Charles W. Traylor and his wife, Lura. Lura Perry Traylor, for the record, was the granddaughter of Benjamin Beason, an early operator of a Colorado River ferry.

So the house passed hands, but it didn't go far. Two families, two stories, same four walls. Here's where the tale gets interesting.

The Keiths had a son, James L., born right there in that house. The Traylors had a daughter, Clara, born right there in that same house. And in 1896, James and Clara were married.

In that house. The very house where both of them had first drawn breath. Over the years the house grew a little too, picking up a dining room, a kitchen, some Queen Anne detailing, and a bathroom along the way.

But the bones of it, that center-passage frame, held steady. Some houses just seem to know what they're for.

What the marker says

Civil War Veteran John Wilbur Keith and his wife, Haseltine Long, daughter of a prominent Beaumont businessman, moved to Columbus in 1870. They built this house about 1871 and in 1875 sold it to local merchant Charles W. Traylor and his wife, Lura (Perry), granddaughter of early Colorado River ferry opeator Benjamin Beason. The Keiths' son, James L., and the Traylors' daughter, Clara, both born in this house, were married here in 1896. Alterations include the addition of a dining room, kitchen, Queen Anne detailing, and a bathroom. The house is a fine local example of late Victorian-era, center-passage design.