The Anderson House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to do it justice. Out in Wichita Falls, there's a Victorian residence that has been watching over the city for well over a century now. It sits up high, overlooking the neighborhood below, and when you see those distinctive second floor windows catching the light, you understand why somebody took real care putting this place together.

That somebody was architect Joseph C. Pate, a Wichita Falls man who knew what he was doing. He designed the house for a local businessman by the name of Guy Dewitt Anderson and his wife, and when construction wrapped up in 1907, the Andersons had themselves something worth noticing.

The surrounding neighborhood carried a certain prominence back in those days, and this house wore it well. Now, Mrs. Anderson was no ordinary resident.

She became a noted civic leader, and her service reached all the way to 1936, when she served as a commissioner for the Texas Centennial. That's the kind of person who leaves a mark on a place. The house itself changed hands in 1918, when an oilman named W.

E. Connors bought it. Connors moved in and made it his home, and he stayed.

Twenty years he lived there, right up until his death. Two different families, two different chapters, and the house stood through all of it, those second floor windows looking out over a city that kept on growing around it. Some buildings just hold the story of a place.

The Anderson House is one of them.

What the marker says

This Victorian residence with distinctive second floor windows was designed by Wichita Falls architect Joseph C. Pate. Built for local businessman Guy Dewitt Anderson and his wife, it was completed in 1907. A noted civic leader, Mrs. Anderson also served as a commissioner for the Texas Centennial, 1936. Oilman W. E. Connors bought the house in 1918 and lived here until his death 20 years later. Built overlooking the city, it reflects the earlier prominence of the surrounding neighborhood. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980