Kirkpatrick House

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker on the Kirkpatrick House has to say, and I'll tell it to you straight with a little room to breathe. E.W. Kirkpatrick was born in 1844, and by the time the Civil War was behind him, he'd served in the Confederate Army, he was already the kind of man who kept moving forward.

Sometime in the 1870s, he purchased a piece of property here in Collin County, and he had a clear purpose in mind: a plant nursery. Not a hobby plot, mind you; a prosperous one. Kirkpatrick was a prominent figure in both business and civic life, and that nursery was part of what made him so.

Then, as the calendar turned toward a new century, he decided the land deserved a proper house to match. In 1901 and 1902, up went this spacious Queen Anne style residence, multi-story, with all the character that style carries, along with a nearby barn. Now, here's the detail that stops you cold if you think about it: the cypress siding on the exterior of that house was hauled by wagon all the way from Jefferson.

By wagon. Every plank of it. Someone made that trip, or more than one trip, so that this house could wear the right skin.

And wear it, it has. Because Kirkpatrick's descendants (his own people, generation after generation) have continued to occupy and preserve this structure right on down to today. Born in 1844, died in 1924, E.W.

Kirkpatrick left behind more than a nursery. He left behind a house that his family never saw fit to let go of. That's a legacy with some roots to it.

What the marker says

E.W. Kirkpatrick (1844-1924), a veteran of the Confederate Army and a prominent leader in business and civic organizations, purchased this property in the 1870s as a site for his prosperous plant nursery. This spacious Queen Anne style house and a nearby barn were constructed in 1901-02. Cypress siding was hauled by wagon from Jefferson for the exterior of the multi-story residence. Kirkpatrick's descendants continue to occupy and preserve the structure. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976