DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker at the Old Anderson Place tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some houses just sit there. This one has been holdin' secrets under its paneling since 1860.
That's when James B. Anderson — one of the founders of Salado itself, and a school trustee in town — built this place right on the edge of an old Indian campground. Think about that for a moment.
Whatever ceremonies, whatever stories played out on that ground before Anderson ever drove a nail, they're still underneath it all. Literally. And the house he put up wasn't some rough-hewn shelter either.
Look close at those windows sometime. That glass is hand blown. In 1860.
Someone breathed that glass into existence, and it's still there. Community leaders came through. Lawyers.
Doctors. The kind of people a growing Texas town produces when it's finding its footing. But here's where the story takes a turn that'll make you sit up a little straighter.
The year is 1883. A young student boards at this house while attending Old Salado College. His name is James E.
Ferguson. Now, you might let that name roll past you — but don't. Because that young boarder sleeping under this cedar-paneled roof would go on to become Governor of Texas, serving from 1915 to 1917.
And if that weren't enough — he was the husband of the first woman Governor of Texas. One house. One old Indian campground.
One hand-blown pane of glass. And a future governor laying his head down for the night. Some places just know how to keep interesting company.
What the marker says
Built 1860 at edge of an old Indian campground, by James B. Anderson, one of town's founders and a school trustee in Salado. Community leaders, lawyers and doctors have lived here. Boarding here in 1883 while a student at Old Salado College was James E. Ferguson, 1915-1917 Governor of Texas--and husband of the first woman Governor. Under panelling and cedar walls. Window glass is hand blown. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965