Old Anderson Place

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Fayette County, there's a house that has seen more Texas history walk through its doors than most folks could fit into a library. They call it the Old Anderson Place, and the marker says it plain: this is the area's oldest occupied house.

Let that settle for a moment. Oldest. Occupied.

Still standing, still holding stories. William B. and Rosetta Anderson built it before 1857, and right away you get the sense these were people who did not sit still. Three of their eleven children were born inside those walls.

Eleven children. The house was busy from the start. Now, William Anderson was not a man who held one job when he could hold six.

He was a carpenter. A blacksmith. He served as postmaster in the town of Lyons.

He was justice of the peace. He was a notary public, appointed to that role by the Governor of Texas himself. And if that weren't enough, he was sergeant of the Lyons Riflemen, C.S.A.

The man was practically the whole town wrapped up in one person. And during the Civil War, while Anderson served with the Riflemen, his family would climb to the second story of that house and watch the military drills from up above. Think about that image for a second.

A mother and her children, pressed against those upstairs windows, watching soldiers train down below. Now, after the Andersons, the house passed through hands that read like a who's who of Texas history. Louis Schulenburg came through, and the marker notes he's the man for whom the town of Schulenburg was named.

Then came T. W. Pierce, a principal investor in the Galveston, Houston and San Antonio Railroad.

That's not a small thing. That railroad stitched a big part of Texas together. And finally, the C.

A. Rose family took ownership, remodeled the place, and opened it up for roomers. A house that started as a family home, carpenter-built before 1857, ended up welcoming strangers through its doors for a night's rest.

The oldest occupied house in the area, still standin', still holdin' its ground. Some houses just refuse to let go of their story.

What the marker says

Area's oldest occupied house. Built before 1857 by William B. and Rosetta Anderson, three of whose eleven children were born here. Anderson was a carpenter, blacksmith, postmaster in town of Lyons, justice of the peace, notary public (appointed by the Governor of Texas), and sergeant of Lyons Riflemen, C.S.A. Family watched military drills from second story during Civil War. Later owners: Louis Schulenburg, for whom town was named; T. W. Pierce, a principal investor in Galveston, Houston & San Antonio Railroad; and C. A. Rose family, who remodeled house for roomers. (1971)