Mary E. Hudspeth House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Now, most houses just sit where they're put and call it a life. This one had other ideas.

Thomas P. Turk built it in 1909, set it down at 402 Palo Duro Street, and that might've been the end of the story. But then West Texas University came into being in 1910, and suddenly this house had somewhere to be.

It was picked up and moved, relocated to serve as a residence for faculty and students. The university needed it, and so it went. But here's the part worth savoring.

There was a woman already living in that house before it ever took its little journey across town. Mary E. Hudspeth, a member of the college faculty, had been renting rooms at the original site on Palo Duro Street.

And when the house moved, well, Mary moved with it. She stayed on, first as a renter and eventually as the owner, for a total of thirty-three years. Thirty-three years in the same house, through a relocation and a name change and all the turning of the world around her.

She wasn't just passing through, she was putting down roots, in a house that had already proven it knew how to travel. Mary E. Hudspeth, born in 1874 and gone by 1943, was no ordinary tenant.

She was a noted educator, and she rose to serve as chairman of the Modern Languages Department at West Texas State University. The house Thomas Turk built found its purpose. And Mary Hudspeth, it turns out, was that purpose all along.

What the marker says

Built in 1909 by Thomas P. Turk, this home was originally located at 402 Palo Duro Street. After the establishment of West Texas University in 1910, it was moved here to serve as a residence for faculty and students. Mary E. Hudspeth (1874-1943), a member of the college faculty, rented rooms in the house at its original site. She continued to occupy it following its relocation for a total of 33 years, as renter and owner. A noted educator, Hudspeth served as chairman of the Modern Languages Department at West Texas State University. (1988)