Sims-Womack House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Sims-Womack House. Before 1870, somebody set two rooms and a detached kitchen down in Hill County, and that was enough to call it a home. Simple, sturdy, the kind of place that doesn't ask much of you and doesn't give much away.

But houses like that have a way of attracting people with bigger plans. In 1906, Dr. William Thomas Sims purchased the property, and that's when things started to grow.

Dr. Sims was a prominent early dentist in Hillsboro, and not the kind of man who stopped at dentistry. He was a leader in civic activities, a leader in the Methodist church, and apparently a man who looked at a modest two-room house and saw something worth adding to.

The additions made during his ownership changed the shape of the place, gave it more rooms, more presence, more story. He was born in 1874 and died in 1928, and in between those years he left his mark on that house and on Hillsboro both. Then the house passed on, the way houses do, and it found its next chapter in the hands of Leroy and Lalia Womack, she born a Baldridge, both of them local business and civic leaders.

Now here's the part worth savoring. Leroy and Lalia didn't just buy a house. They bought it on their wedding day.

December 24, 1934. Christmas Eve. You have to wonder which one talked the other into signing paperwork on a day like that, but whoever it was, the decision held.

The house has remained in the family ever since. Some houses just pick the right people.

What the marker says

The original section of this house, which consisted of two rooms and a detached kitchen, was built prior to 1870. Later additions were made during the ownership of Dr. William Thomas Sims (1874-1928), who purchased the property in 1906. A prominent early dentist in Hillsboro, Dr. Sims was also a leader in civic activities and in the Methodist church. Later owners of the residence were Leroy and Lalia (Baldridge) Womack, local business and civic leaders. Purchased on their wedding day, December 24, 1934, it has remained in the family since that date.