Shuford-Killough House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it back to you. Now settle in, because this one's about a house that's got a story worth the stopping. Out here in Potter County, there stands a residence that was built for a cattleman by the name of J.D.

Shuford, and it was completed in 1913. Think about what 1913 meant on the Texas Panhandle. The cattle business had made men, and men with means wanted something that said so.

Shuford apparently said so pretty clearly. He didn't just hire any builder down the road. He went all the way to Kansas City, to an architectural firm called Shepard, Farrar, and Wiser, and what they drew up for him was something in the Prairie School style.

Now that's a style that speaks in horizontals. Wide eaves reaching out like arms, a hipped roof sitting low and sure against the sky. It has a way of looking like it belongs to the earth it sits on, which, come to think of it, is a fine quality in a cattleman's house.

And then, just to remind you this wasn't a dugout, they gave it a porch with classical columns and balustrades. Prairie School meets a little bit of grandeur. The house knew what it was.

Then comes 1927, and the Shuford era passes the baton. A local physician and civic leader named R.S. Killough purchased the house.

A doctor and a man of standing in the community, and he and his family made it their own. The Killough family held onto that house all the way until 1946. That's not a short chapter.

That's a life lived inside those walls, under those wide eaves, between those classical columns. Two families, one remarkable house, and a Kansas City drawing board that sent something lasting down to Potter County, Texas. Some things get built to last, and some things just do.

What the marker says

This residence, built for cattleman J.D. Shuford, was completed in 1913. Designed by the Kansas City architectural firm of Shepard, Farrar, and Wiser, the house reflects the Prairie School style with its hipped roof and wide eaves. Other prominent features include a porch with classical columns and balustrades. In 1927 the house was purchased by local physician and civic leader R.S. Killough. It remained in the Killough family until 1946. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1991