McClanahan House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the McClanahan House in Bee County. Now settle in, because this one's a story about a single man who apparently decided that one job just wasn't going to cut it. We're talking about a building erected around 1867, right on the east side of the courthouse square, near Poesta Creek, in Beeville, Texas.

And the man who built it, G.W. McClanahan, well, he was something else entirely. The marker calls him Beeville's first merchant.

Also its school teacher. Also its postmaster. Also its county clerk.

Also its inn keeper. And, just to round things out, its Sunday School superintendent. Now, I don't know what G.W. stood for, but I'd suggest it might as well have stood for Got Work, because this man was not sitting idle.

He built what would become the oldest business structure in Beeville, and he filled it up with purpose. It served as a general store. A lodging house.

A post office. Pioneer western style, they call it, with southern porches, which tells you something right there about the blend of worlds meeting on that east side of the courthouse square. One building, one man, an entire town's worth of function.

The McClanahan House has been standing near Poesta Creek since about 1867, and it is still standing as a testament to the notion that sometimes one person just decides to show up for everything. G.W. McClanahan apparently did exactly that.

What the marker says

Oldest business structure in Beeville, erected about 1867 on east side of courthouse square, near Poesta Creek. General store, lodging house, post office. Pioneer western style, with southern porches. Built by G.W. McClanahan, Beeville's first merchant, school teacher, postmaster, county clerk, inn keeper, Sunday School superintendent. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964