Prew House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Prew House in Callahan County. Now, some houses just sit there. They hold their ground, they weather their seasons, and eventually somebody puts a marker out front and says, pay attention.

The Prew House is one of those. Typically Victorian in style, it went up in 1906, and the man who built it, Frank X. Prew, had been working toward that moment for a good long while.

He emigrated from Wisconsin back in 1889, and here's the part the marker takes care to tell you: he came desiring to live in a young country. Not fleeing something. Not chasing a fortune.

Desiring to live in a young country. That's a particular kind of man. He started a small farm and worked on the railroad, which is about as honest a combination of calloused work as West Texas could hand you.

Then, in 1906, he built his house. And he did not build it plain. The structure is mainly pine, but downstairs, the wainscoting is oak, with decorative beading along it.

That same beading shows up on the woodwork around the windows and the doors. And up on the front gable, there's gingerbread trim, which is about as close as a working man's farmhouse gets to saying, I am proud of this place. Out back, or wherever it stands, the old water well and the food-storage cellar are still in good condition.

Still doing the quiet work they were built to do. A man came from Wisconsin in 1889 wanting something a young country could offer. By 1906 he had his house, his beading, his gingerbread, his well, and his cellar.

Turns out a young country could offer quite a bit.

What the marker says

Typically Victorian in style. Built in 1906 by Frank X. Prew, who emigrated from Wisconsin in 1889, desiring to live in a young country. He began a small farm and worked on railroad. Structure is mainly pine. The oak wainscoting downstairs has decorative beading, as does woodwork on windows and doors. Gingerbread trim appears on front gable. Old water well and food-storage cellar are still in good condition. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1970.