DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I tell it back to you. The town of Moody, Texas, was founded in 1881, and from the very beginning, a man named Charles Howard was already there. Born in 1862, Howard planted himself in that new town and got to work.
He operated a general store, built himself a reputation, and by the time the century turned, he was what you'd call a prosperous businessman. Now, when a prosperous man decides to build a house, he doesn't just call his neighbor over with a hammer. Charles Howard reached all the way to St.
Louis for an architectural firm to draw up the plans. Think about that for a moment. A town barely two decades old, out here on the Texas prairie, and this man is importing elegance from Missouri.
The plans came down, and a local contractor named Elmo Routh took over from there, supervising every bit of the construction. The year was 1900, and what went up on that lot was something worth stopping for. Queen Anne detailing, they call the style, and it shows.
There's a turret on that house. A genuine turret. And decorative fish scale shingling, the kind of work that says whoever built this meant it to last.
Charles Howard passed in 1915, but the house he commissioned kept standing, kept belonging to his family. The Howard family held onto that property all the way until 1973, nearly three quarters of a century after Elmo Routh drove the last nail. Some houses outlast the people who build them.
Some houses outlast almost everything. This one's still out there.
What the marker says
A resident of Moody when the town was founded in 1881, Charles Howard (1862-1915) operated a general store and became a prosperous businessman. He built this elegant residence for his family in 1900. A St. Louis architectural firm drew the house plans and local contractor Elmo Routh supervised the construction. The Queen Anne detailing includes a turret and decorative fish scale shingling. The Howard family owned the property until 1973. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1978