DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it straight along to you. Out on the roads of Camp County, there's a house that has a way of drawing your eye before you even know why. It's that gingerbread woodwork, all that ornate Victorian trim, the kind of craftsmanship that says somebody back in 1899 had a vision and the means to see it through.
That somebody was Eugene Fore, who had this residence built for his family. A fine start for a fine house. But the story, friend, was just getting started.
By 1913, the Fore family had moved on, and the house passed to Camp County Sheriff J. D. Stafford.
Now a county sheriff living in a place like this, that's a certain kind of statement. And Stafford wasn't just passing through. He lived there for twenty-four years.
Twenty-four years of that front porch, that woodwork, those rooms. Then in 1941, Dr. Ernest Paris and his wife Margret came into the picture.
Dr. Paris was a prominent local chiropractor, and the two of them made that Victorian showpiece their home, which is how the house came to carry the Stafford and Paris names together. But here's the detail that makes this house feel like it's got roots going all the way down into the bedrock of this county.
Among the other community leaders who lived here were Dr. R. Y.
Lacy and Dr. R. C.
Treynham. And Dr. Treynham's wife, Cora, was the stepdaughter of W.
H. Pitts. The very man for whom the town was named.
One house, built in 1899, and running straight through its own history is a thread tied to the founding name of the place itself. That gingerbread trim has been watching over Camp County for a long time. Seems like it intends to keep right on doing it.
What the marker says
This Victorian residence with ornate gingerbread woodwork was built in 1899 for the family of Eugene Fore. In 1913 it was sold to Camp County Sheriff J. D. Stafford, who lived here for 24 years. Dr. Ernest Paris, a prominent local chiropractor, and his wife Margret, bought the home in 1941. Other community leaders who resided here include Dr. R. Y. Lacy and Dr. R. C. Treynham, whose wife Cora was the stepdaughter of W. H. Pitts, for whom the town was named. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981