DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about this spot in Kimble County; so let me take you back. Somewhere along this stretch of Texas hill country, a man named Creed Taylor decided to build something worthy of everything he'd seen and survived. Between 1869 and 1871, he raised a two-story ranch house right here: native stone, cut and stacked into what folks considered the finest home west of San Antonio.
That's a serious claim in a state that size. Creed Taylor had earned the right to build something serious. Because this man had been at it since 1835.
That's when a younger Taylor (born in 1819, so barely sixteen years old) fought in the Battle of Gonzales. That was the opening shot of the Texas War for Independence, and Taylor was there for it. He didn't stop there, either.
He went on to fight in the Battle of Concepcion and the Siege of Bexar. By the time Texas had won its independence, Creed Taylor had bled for it. Then in 1840, he joined the Texas Rangers and fought in the Plum Creek Battle.
And 1841 brought him back into the Rangers again, this time serving under Captain Jack Hays; and that name alone ought to raise the hairs on your neck if you know your Texas history. Under Hays, Taylor rode into the Bandera Pass Indian fight, the Battle of Salado, and then the Mexican War of 1846. The man was present at an almost uncanny number of the moments that shaped this state.
So when he finally built that stone house, that two-story monument on this very ground, it must have felt like an anchor. Like permanence. Like something that would last.
It burned in 1926. A man named Dillard Stapp rebuilt it. And then, as if the land itself had made up its mind about the matter, it burned again in 1956.
Creed Taylor lived from 1819 to 1906, long enough to see his house stand and his legend take root; but not long enough to see it taken twice by fire. What's left now is the marker, the memory, and this patch of Kimble County ground that once held the finest home west of San Antonio. Make of that what you will.
What the marker says
A two-story ranch house of native stone was built here in 1869-71 by Creed Taylor, veteran of Texas War for Independence. Considered the finest home west of San Antonio, it burned in 1926. Rebuilt by Dillard Stapp, it again burned down in 1956. Taylor (1819-1906) fought in the Battle of Gonzales in 1835, and later in the Battle of Concepcion and the Siege of Bexar. Joined the Texas Rangers in 1840 and fought in Plum Creek Battle. In 1841, he joined Rangers, serving under Capt. Jack Hays in Bandera Pass Indian fight, Battle of Salado, and the Mexican War of 1846. (1967)