Moore Home

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Moore Home in Fort Bend County. Now settle in, because this old house has seen some things. It was built in 1883 by a man named John M.

Moore, and he built it for his bride, Lottie Dyer. John was born in 1862, and before he was done walking this earth in 1940, he'd managed to fill that house up with a whole lot of history. Three generations of Moores would call it home.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Start with the house itself. When John put it up in 1883, it wore a Victorian design, all the fussy ornamentation that style demanded.

Now, John Moore was a prosperous rancher, and prosperous ranchers tend to have opinions about things, including architecture. So in 1905, he remodeled the whole structure, trading that Victorian look for a Neo-classical style that was making the rounds in the early twentieth century. Clean lines.

A certain dignity. The kind of place that says, without shouting, that serious people live here. And serious people did.

John Moore wasn't just running cattle. He served in the state legislature, and then from 1905 to 1913 he served in the United States Congress. So while he was remodeling the house, he was also headed to Washington.

That's a busy year. Politicians and cattlemen visited often, which, in Texas, is sometimes the same person wearing two hats. And here is the detail that tends to stop people cold when they hear it: Richmond's First Baptist Church was founded in this house.

Not near it. Not down the road from it. In it.

Three generations of a family, a church born in the parlor, a congressman coming home from Washington, and a house that changed its own face right in the middle of all of it. The Moore Home has been holding that story since 1883, and it doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon.

What the marker says

Occupied by three generations of the Moore family, this house was built in 1883 by John M. Moore (1862-1940) for his bride Lottie (Dyer). A prosperous rancher, Moore served in the state legislature and from 1905 to 1913 in the U. S. Congress. He remodeled this structure in 1905 from its original Victorian design to a Neo-classical style popular in the early 20th century. Richmond's First Baptist Church was founded in this house and noted politicians and cattlemen often visited here. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962