The Culver Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Matagorda County, there stands a house that's got more stories in its walls than most folks will ever know. The Culver Home.

Built in the late 1890s for a man named George B. Culver, designed by architect Roy Shoultz with the kind of colonial styling that makes you stop your car and stare. Two large galleries wrapping around the place, and up top, a cupola riding the roofline like it's keeping watch over the whole county.

Now, the bones of this house, those came from a distance. Louisiana pine and cypress, hauled in and fitted together to last. And if that's not enough to raise an eyebrow, consider this: the tile for the fireplace was brought over from England.

England. Someone wanted that house done right, and they weren't about to cut corners on the hearth. The kind of fireplace that makes you understand why distinguished visitors kept showing up.

And show up they did. Statesmen. Railroad leaders.

Church leaders. The movers and the shapers of Texas passed through those galleries and warmed themselves, presumably, by those English tiles. But George Culver wasn't just in the business of receiving company.

He was a pioneer of the intercoastal canal, and in 1904, he drilled the first artesian well in the townsite, pulling water up out of the earth right there where the town stood. A house built to last, a man who left his mark on the land and the waterways both. The Culver Home is still standing.

Some places just refuse to be forgotten.

What the marker says

Built in the late 1890's for owner George B. Culver. Roy Shoultz, architect. Colonial styling, with two large galleries and cupola. House built of Louisiana pine and cypress. Tile for fireplace brought from England. Distinguished visitors have included statesmen, railroad and church leaders in Texas. Pioneer of intercoastal canal, drilled first artesian well in townsite in 1904. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967