T. J. and Mary Lelia Dick House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the T. J. and Mary Lelia Dick House out in Galveston County. Now, every good house has a story behind it, and this one's got a few layers worth peeling back.

Thomas Jackson and Mary Lelia Dick, she being a Sherman before she took that name, they lived out on their north Galveston County spread for many years. They called it the Buckhorn Ranch, which is already the kind of name that makes you want to sit a spell and hear more. They weren't in any particular hurry, it seems, but when the time came to put up a proper house, they went and hired two men for the job.

J. R. Beerwort and O.

V. King built this place in 1904, and what they turned out was something worth remembering. Two stories tall, with a center passage plan running through it, and a double gallery out front dressed up with turned columns, latticework, and a balustrade.

The kind of house that says somebody meant business. Now, T. J.

Dick himself had a reputation that ran well beyond the Buckhorn Ranch. He was acclaimed for his role in building the Galveston Seawall, and if you know anything about what Galveston has been through, you understand that's no small thing to have your name attached to. But here's where the story turns quiet.

In 1920, T. J. and Mary Lelia were divorced. The house, though, stayed with her.

It stayed in Mary Lelia's family all the way until 1989. That's the thing about a well-built house. The people who commissioned it may go their separate ways, but the columns and the latticework and the balustrade just keep standing there on the gallery, holding up their end of the deal.

What the marker says

Thomas Jackson and Mary Lelia (Sherman) Dick lived on their north Galveston County "Buckhorn Ranch" for many years before hiring J. R. Beerwort and O. V. King to build this house in 1904. It is a good example of a two-story center passage plan with a double gallery accented by turned columns, latticework and balustrade. T. J., acclaimed for his role in building the Galveston Seawall, was divorced from Mary Lelia in 1920. The house remained in her family until 1989. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1993