M.B. Norman House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. In 1873, a young man named Mart B. Norman came to this part of Williamson County.

He was born in 1856, so do the math yourself, but suffice it to say he arrived young and he arrived ready. The area he settled into would eventually carry his name, Norman's Crossing, which tells you something about how a man's reputation can take root in the land itself. M.B.

Norman farmed. He ran a general store. He co-owned a cotton gin.

The kind of man who didn't just live in a community, he helped build one from the ground up. Then in 1906, he purchased this very property, and soon afterward he put up a house that was not content to be ordinary. Two stories tall, cross-gabled, with octagonal-shaped projections reaching out like it was trying to hold onto everything around it.

A wrap-around porch. A decorative balcony on the second floor. Dormers.

A double door with a transom above it. Squared columns. Fishscale shingles.

Decorative glass. Lapped siding. The whole thing designed in the Queen Anne style, which in the Texas heat of Williamson County is a statement.

M.B. Norman passed away in 1921. His wife, Nettie, Nettie Mayhall Norman, she held onto that property.

And the family held on after her. More than a hundred years, that house has stayed in the family. Some things you build are meant to last, and some things just do.

What the marker says

In 1873, Mart B. Norman (1856 – 1921) came to this area, which would later be called Norman’s Crossing. M.B. Norman farmed, ran a general store and co-owned a cotton gin in the community later named for him. In 1906, he purchased this property and soon afterward built a two-story cross-gabled house with octagonal-shaped projections, including a wrap-around porch, designed in the Queen Anne style. The second story features a decorative balcony and dormers; other notable elements include a double door and transom, squared columns, fishscale shingles, decorative glass and lapped siding. After M.B. Norman’s death in 1921, his wife, Nettie (Mayhall), continued to own the property, which has remained in the family for more than 100 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2010