Manning-Gordon-Henderson House

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and here's my telling of it. Now, some houses just sit there. Four walls, a roof, a door that sticks in August.

But every now and then a house comes along that earns a little more attention than that, and the Manning-Gordon-Henderson House in Hamilton County is one of those houses. Let me walk you through it. Local contractor Louis V.

Manning built this place somewhere between 1880 and 1885. The land itself came down to him from his father, a pioneer by the name of Exekiel Manning, and Louis put that inheritance to work. He lived there until 1904, which means he watched that house age the way a man watches something he built with his own hands.

You tend to notice every little thing. Then the John H. and Abbie Gordon family took ownership, and they kept the place from 1907 all the way to 1936. That is a good long stretch of a family putting their mark on a home.

And right on the heels of the Gordons, in that same year of 1936, Oliver Dow and Minta Henderson and their family came to reside there. Three families, one house, decades of Hamilton County life moving through those rooms. Now here is where the house itself deserves a moment, because this is not just any old structure.

It is a cross-gabled roof Queen Anne, which is a style that does not believe in doing anything quietly. The distinguishing details include fish-scale textured gables, and if you have never seen fish-scale shingles fanning out across a gable end, well, you are missing something. There are cutaway bay windows, and a front entry porch dressed up with ornamental posts and brackets and a jigsawn frieze.

Someone took real pride in that porch. And then there is the unusual siding flanking the entry door, which the marker calls out specifically, as if to say, go ahead, take a second look. Three families, a pioneer father's land, a contractor's careful hands, and a Queen Anne house that still has details worth stopping for.

That is a Hamilton County story worth knowing.

What the marker says

Local contractor Louis V. Manning built this house between 1880 and 1885 on land inherited from his father, pioneer Exekiel Manning, and lived here until 1904. The John H. and Abbie Gordon family owned the house from 1907 to 1936 and the Oliver Dow and Minta Henderson family took up residence here in 1936. A simple example of a cross-gabled roof Queen Anne house, its distinguishing details include fish-scale textured gables, cutaway bay windows, and a front entry porch with ornamental posts and brackets and a jigsawn frieze. Also of interest is the unusual siding flanking the entry door. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1999