DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — and it's one worth hearin' right. Out here in Mason County, there's a building that's been standin' since just after the Civil War era, and the stones it's made of have soaked up more than a century of Texas life. The Mason House Hotel and Stage Station.
Built in 1869 and 1870 by a man known as S. F. Bridges — they called him Lace — and from the start, this place was more than just four walls and a roof.
It sat right along the San Antonio to El Paso Road, one of the great overland routes of its day, and if you were travelin' that hard stretch of Texas, the Mason House was where you stopped breathin' again. Weary travelers found respite there — that's the word the marker uses, respite — and local residents pulled up a chair for a hearty meal. Lace Bridges built himself a destination.
Now, for a while, things were good. The stagecoaches rolled in, the guests came and went, the kitchen kept busy. But 1900 brought something that no hospitality could hold back.
A tragic fire. And in that fire, a twenty-three-year-old woman named Annie Medlock lost her life. The marker doesn't dress that up, and neither will I.
A young woman died, and that fire left a mark on this place that time doesn't erase. The building survived, though it changed. Eventually it was converted into apartments, and in the 1930s, alterations came — including the addition of an exterior stairway.
The place kept bein' used, kept bein' lived in. And here's the thing about old stone buildings in Texas: they hold on. To this day, the original kitchen cistern is still there.
The stone fences are still standin'. History has a way of layin' down roots in the places where people actually lived — and loved, and ate, and mourned. The Mason House is still right there to prove it.
What the marker says
Built in 1869-70 by S. F. (Lace) Bridges, the Mason House was a hotel and stagecoach stop on the San Antonio to El Paso Road. It was a popular stopping place, providing respite for many weary travelers and hearty meals for local residents. A tragic fire in 1900 resulted in the death of 23-year-old Annie Medlock. Eventually the building was converted into apartments, and some alterations occurred in the 1930s, including the addition of an exterior stairway. A number of historic features still remain on the property, including the original kitchen cistern and stone fences. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -1999