Stricker-Sneed House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you're rollin' through Calvert in Robertson County and you spot a fine Victorian house, the kind that looks like it has opinions about the neighbors, you're likely lookin' at the Stricker-Sneed House, and it has got a story worth pullin' over for. Herman L. and Katy Stricker built that house in 1900.

Herman was a jeweler, which already tells you something about a man's eye for detail and his appreciation for things done right. His wife Katy was no ordinary figure in Calvert society either. She was the daughter of Confederate General William H.

Hamman, and she carried that lineage into a life of her own making as a business, civic, and social leader in this town. And here is the part that deserves its own moment: Mrs. Stricker led the movement to erect a League of Women's meeting house.

That building is still standin' today, now serving as the Calvert Library building. A woman who helped put that in the ground. That is a legacy you can walk into.

Then in 1913, a banker by the name of H. Marvin Sneed and his wife Cara, born a Weber, bought the house and gave it the second half of its name. The Sneeds' heirs eventually sold it to Mr. and Mrs.

Kimbrough Gray in 1970. So that house passed from jeweler to banker to the Grays, and every family left a little of themselves behind in its walls. Victorian houses have a way of collectin' stories the way attics collect furniture.

This one earned every room.

What the marker says

Victorian house built in 1900 by Herman L. and Katy Stricker, business, civic, social leaders. Stricker was a jeweler; his wife, daughter of Confederate General William H. Hamman. Mrs. Stricker led in movement to erect League of Women's meeting house, now the Calvert Library building. In 1913, banker H. Marvin Sneed and his wife Cara (Weber) bought the house; their heirs sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Kimbrough Gray, 1970. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973