Lisenby-Campbell House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out in Spur, in Dickens County, there stands a house that's been keeping watch over the town since well before most folks can remember. The Lisenby-Campbell House.

And like any good Texas story, it starts with land and the people stubborn enough to put roots down in it. A rancher named George Edward Lisenby and his wife, Mattie Belle Holland, bought this home in 1916. A rancher and his wife, a piece of ground, and a house built to last.

That's a foundation in more ways than one. They held onto it for six years, and then in 1922, the house changed hands. William Spencer Campbell and his wife, Dora Bell Williams Campbell, became the new owners.

Now, the Campbells weren't just anybody passing through. They ran W.S. Campbell Furniture and Undertaking, a business that would eventually become what folks today know as Campbell Funeral Home.

The Campbells were woven into the fabric of Spur, active in local organizations, active in the Methodist church. The kind of family a town leans on. But here's the thing about this house that'll stop you in your tracks if you know what to look for.

It's not just a house. It's a piece of architecture that has something to say. Prairie style influences, the marker tells us.

Deep eaves reaching out like arms. Geometric pendant detailing. An asymmetrical hipped roof.

And that emphasis on horizontal planes, like the house itself is hugging the earth, refusing to be anything but grounded. That's a deliberate statement in wood and form. Two families, one house, and a town called Spur growing up around it.

The Lisenby-Campbell House stands today as a reminder of that early history, and of the residents who shaped it. Some landmarks mark a place. This one marks a whole way of life.

What the marker says

This home was first owned by rancher George Edward Lisenby and his wife, Mattie Belle Holland, who bought it in 1916. They sold it in 1922 to William Spencer and Dora Bell (Williams) Campbell, who owned W.S. Campbell Furniture and Undertaking, today known as Campbell Funeral Home. The Campbell family was active in local organizations and the Methodist church. The house exhibits Prairie style influences, as seen in the deep eaves, geometric pendant detailing, asymmetrical hipped roof and emphasis on horizontal planes. Today, the landmark is a reminder of Spur’s early history and residents. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003