Magee House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Magee House in Abilene. Now, when you're drivin' through Taylor County, you start to get a feel for what Abilene looked like when it was still finding its footing. And standing as one of the earliest fine houses in that city is the Magee House, a place that tells you something about the kind of people who came here and decided to stay.

The man behind it was Dr. Jefferson Davis Magee, born in 1861, died in 1935. He came a long way to get here, in every sense.

A native of Pike County, Mississippi, he got his education in East Texas and then at the Louisville Medical College in Kentucky. That's a man who covered some ground before he ever set foot in West Texas. In 1902, Dr.

Magee moved to Abilene. He set up a drugstore, built an extensive medical practice, and then, in 1903, he and his wife Anna, born a Wilbanks, did something that announced they were not just passing through. They built a house.

Not just any house. They built it on an entire city block. The structure went up in colonial revival style, oak lumber for the bones of it, and lofty Ionic columns of cypress out front.

Lofty. That's the word the marker uses, and once you picture those cypress columns rising up in early twentieth century Abilene, you understand why. And that home, the marker tells us, was noted for its hospitality.

Dr. Magee had the practice, he had the drugstore, and he had a house that people remembered. Now, a house like that requires someone to care about it long after the original family is gone.

That's where Mr. and Mrs. John L. Thompson come in.

From 1962 through 1970, they undertook the restoration of the Magee House and saw to its preservation. Eight years of work to make sure those cypress columns and that oak lumber kept standing. One of the earliest fine houses in Abilene.

Built to last, restored to prove it.

What the marker says

One of earliest fine houses in Abilene. Built 1903 in colonial revival style by Dr. Jefferson Davis Magee (1861-1935) and wife, Anna (Wilbanks). A native of Pike County, Mississippi, educated in East Texas and at the Louisville (KY) Medical College, Dr. Magee moved to Abilene (1902), had drugstore and extensive practice. His home was noted for its hospitality. Built on an entire city block, structure was of oak lumber with lofty ionic columns of cypress. Restored 1962-70 and preserved by Mr. and Mrs. John L. Thompson. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark, 1971