The Eggleston House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, and I'm just passin' it along to you, this is the story of the Eggleston House in Gonzales County. Now, before you can understand what makes this house special, you have to understand what came before it. In 1836, the town of Gonzales was burned.

Not by accident — burned, during the Run-Away Scrape. When folks came back to rebuild, they were starting from ash and memory. So when Horace Eggleston put up his house in 1848, it wasn't just construction.

It was a statement. This was one of the first permanent-type houses to rise in Gonzales after all that. And Horace wasn't building light.

He set that house on Lots One through Six, Block Fifteen of the Inner Town of Gonzales — six hundred feet east of the Guadalupe River, on St. Michael Street. He walked down to the banks of that same Guadalupe and cut walnut and oak, and then came the work that would separate a man's shoulders from his ambition: the whipsaw and the broadaxe.

From those logs, they cut the timbers. The whipsaw side, smooth and true, faced the outside. The broadaxe side — rougher, heavier — faced in.

That thickness was no accident. It furnished protection against Indians and wild animals, and they left spaces between the timbers specifically so a person inside could fire their weapons outward if it came to that. Now the house itself was built in a style that makes you smile once somebody explains it.

Two rooms, separated by an open breezeway. They called that breezeway a dog-run. Each room had its own fireplace.

One room for cooking and serving food, one room for sleeping. When visitors came — and the marker says they came often, overnight guests being something of a regular occurrence — the arrangement turned practical in a hurry. One room for the men, one for the women.

And the dogs? The dogs slept right there in the dog-run, because dogs were a necessity. Protection and hunting — not a luxury, a tool of survival sleeping in the gap between your two rooms.

The house stood like that for well over a hundred years. Then, in 1954, Mr. and Mrs. E.

E. Smith, Jr. gave the house to the City of Gonzales. The city council brought in Mr.

Fred B. Miesenhelder to move it to city property. And here's where the story gets its second act of patience and care.

The house was heavy. The timbers were old. You couldn't just drag it down the road.

So they disassembled it — every single timber — and as each one came down, it was given a number. Piece by piece, the whole thing was catalogued. And then, in reverse order, it was reassembled.

The parts that had deteriorated got replaced with new logs cut from the same place Horace Eggleston had gone a century before: the banks of the Guadalupe River. Same river. Same timber.

Same house. Some things in Texas just refuse to stay burned down.

What the marker says

text plate inscription: The Eggleston House was one of the first houses built in Gonzales after the Run-Away Scrape and burning of the town in 1836. Horace Eggleston built this house in 1848 and it was one of the first permanent type in Gonzales. The house was erected on Lots No. 1 to 6 Block 15 of the Inner Town of Gonzales which was 600 feet east of the Guadalupe River and on St. Michael Street. Walnut and oak trees were cut from the banks of the Guadalupe River. From the logs with the use of whipsaws and broadaxes, the timbers were cut to build the house. The whipsaw side of the timber was faced to the outside and the broadaxe side to the inside. The thickness of the timbers furnished protection against the Indians and wild animals. Spaces were left between the timbers from which to fire their weapons. The house was built as it is seen today, with two rooms separated by an open space, which was called a dog-run. Each room was provided a fire place. One room was used for cooking and the serving of food. The other room was used for sleeping quarters. When the family had overnight visitors, which was often, one room would be used for men and the other for women. Dogs were a necessity for protection and hunting, and the dogs slept in the dog-run. In 1954, the house was given to the City of Gonzales by Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Smith, Jr. The city council employed Mr. Fred B. Miesenhelder to move the house to city property. Due to the weight and condition of the house, it was necessary to disassemble all the timbers. Each timber was given a number as it was taken down and then reassembled in reverse order. Those parts which had deteriorated were replaced by new logs cut from the banks of the Guadalupe River.