Old Thompson Home

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of the Old Thompson Home. Now, if you're going to talk about the oldest house in Grayson County, you'd best sit down and give it the respect it deserves. We're talkin' about a structure that was already standing in 1830, when most of this part of Texas was still figuring out what it wanted to be.

Built near Preston Bend, an important trail crossing on the Red River, right where travelers and traders had reason to stop and take stock of things. That location alone tells you something about the man who built it. James G.

Thompson didn't just pick a pretty spot. He picked the spot. The spot that mattered.

And Thompson himself? He went on to become the first Chief Justice of Grayson County, which in those days meant county judge, the top of the civic ladder. He was also an ancestor of leaders who shaped the area's business and civic life for generations to come.

The man cast a long shadow. Now, the house he built is something to behold even today. White oak logs, solid as the Red River is wide.

Inside, walnut picture rails and chair rails, the kind of detail that tells you Thompson wasn't just building a shelter, he was building a home. And the doors, pegged Salem cross and Bible doors, a style that carries its own quiet dignity just in the name. This place also held the county's first post office, right there inside those white oak walls.

Think about that. Letters, news, word from the outside world, all of it flowing through one house on the bend of the Red River. When Lake Texoma came to be, the original site went under, and the structure was moved here to preserve it.

Then in 1950, a woman named Nellie Blankenship Chambers took it upon herself to restore the old Thompson Home, and because of that, you can still stand in its presence today. The oldest house in Grayson County. Moved, restored, and still standing.

Some things just refuse to be forgotten.

What the marker says

Oldest house in Grayson County. Contained county's first post office. Built 1830 near Preston Bend, important trail crossing on Red River. Builder was James G. Thompson, first Chief Justice (county judge), Grayson County, and ancestor of leaders in the area's business and civic life. Structure, of white oak logs, has walnut picture rails and chair rails, pegged Salem "cross and Bible" doors. It was moved here from site of Lake Texoma. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1968 Restored by Nellie Blankenship Chambers, 1950