Max and Anna Schiwitz Homestead

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give you my best reading of every word. In 1933, two natives of Uhland, Texas, sat down with a vision. Their names were Max Schiwitz and Anna Schiwitz, born Seeliger.

Max came into the world in 1892, and Anna in 1898. Together they were about to build something that would outlast nearly everything around it. Max was known as a notable mercantile owner and a philanthropist, the kind of man a farming community leans on.

But when it came to this house, the vision belonged to Anna. Now, you have to picture a Texas summer before air conditioning existed. Not a luxury missing, a necessity absent.

Anna Schiwitz knew exactly what that meant, and she designed accordingly. All three bedrooms face south. Every single one of them carries a covered porch and three windows apiece, and she arranged it all to pull a cross ventilation through the house like a slow, steady breath.

That wasn't an accident. That was a woman who understood the land she was living on. And she wasn't done.

Anna personally selected the stones for the door arch and for the fireplace. She had opinions about which rocks belonged in her home, and those opinions are still standing. The house itself is vernacular style, built on a pier and beam foundation held up by original cedar posts, the same posts that went in during 1933.

Max lived until 1981. Anna lived until 1993. The house outlived them both, sitting there on the Blackland Prairie as a reminder of old Uhland and the community of farmers the Schiwitz family served for so long.

Some buildings tell you what a place was. This one tells you who cared enough to make it last.

What the marker says

This 1933 vernacular-style home was the brainchild of Uhland natives Max (1892-1981) and Anna (Seeliger) (1898-1993) Schiwitz. Max Schiwitz was a notable mercantile owner and philanthropist. His wife Anna designed all three bedrooms to face south with a covered porch and three windows each to provide cross ventilation, a necessity in the days before air conditioning. She also selected the stones for the door arch and fireplace. The original cedar posts hold the home's pier and beam foundation. The Max and Anna Schiwitz House is a reminder of old Uhland and the community of Blackland Prairie farmers which the family served. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2022