DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little room to breathe. Way back in 1858, a doctor by the name of Rufus Bailey built a house. Now Dr.
Bailey was the president of Austin College from 1858 to 1862, a man of learning and standing, and he wanted to do something generous for his son — built that house as a wedding gift. Sweet gesture. Only problem?
The house looked like a steamboat. We're talking unusual enough that people couldn't help themselves. The joking started, and it didn't stop, and the couple — the very son this gift was meant for — flat out refused to live in it.
A wedding gift nobody would live in. You can't make that up. So Steamboat House sat there, waiting for someone who didn't mind being the talk of the county.
Turned out, that someone had bigger things on his mind than gossip. In 1862, Sam Houston left the governorship of Texas, and he rented Steamboat House. A man who had been governor, who had led and fought and stood at the center of Texas history, settled into the house that a young married couple had turned their noses up at.
And it was here — right here in Steamboat House — that Sam Houston died, in 1863. His funeral was held in the upstairs parlor. The house that nobody wanted became the house that held one of the biggest farewells Texas ever witnessed.
Years rolled on. Then in 1933, a Houston businessman named J. E.
Josey bought the house and gave it to the state. The Texas Centennial Commission restored the building and moved it to its current location in 1936. From wedding gift, to punchline, to the final chapter of Sam Houston's life — Steamboat House has earned every plank in its hull.
What the marker says
Built in 1858 by Dr. Rufus Bailey, 1858-62 president of Austin College, as a wedding gift for son. Unusual house caused such joking, however, the couple refused to live in it. In 1862, after Sam Houston left governorship of Texas, he rented Steamboat House, and here he died in 1863. His funeral was held in the upstairs parlor. In 1933 Houston businessman J. E. Josey bought house and gave it to state. Texas Centennial Commission restored building, moved it here 1936.