The Ike Miers House

Duane's take

Here's how the marker outside the Ike Miers House tells it, and I'll give you my best rendition of the story it carries. Now, when a town is young enough that folks are still countin' its buildings on one hand, every structure means something. Sonora was that young when Isaac Miers put up what would become its fifth structure.

The fifth. You can picture the place: wide sky, raw ground, not much else yet to speak of. But let's back up, because Ike Miers had a long road before he ever saw Sutton County.

Born in 1835, he came of age in time to serve in the Civil War; a veteran by the time the guns went quiet. Then, in 1867, over in Bell County, he married a woman named Victoria Morton. Born in 1841.

And here's where the story takes a turn that'll make you set down your coffee and listen close. Victoria Morton was the granddaughter of John Morton, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Let that settle in for just a moment.

The granddaughter. Of a man whose name is on that document. She married an Isaac Miers, and together they would end up in one of the loneliest, most beautiful stretches of West Texas you've ever laid eyes on.

Around 1880, Miers loaded up a covered wagon and moved west. He owned land and ranched across Edwards, Kimble, and Sutton counties; serious country, serious work. And then, in 1888, he decided it was time to build something permanent.

Now, there was no lumberyard around the corner. Miers hauled the lumber himself, all the way from San Angelo, and with it he raised a board-and-batten cottage right there in Sonora. Simple in design, deliberate in construction.

The kind of building a man puts up when he means to stay. Isaac Miers died in 1891, just three years after the house was finished. Victoria lived on until 1913.

The cottage they made their home is still standing; a museum now, holding the weight of everything it witnessed. Sonora's fifth structure. Built by a Civil War veteran.

Home to the granddaughter of a man who signed the Declaration of Independence. Some buildings earn their place in the story. This one came by it honestly.

What the marker says

Sonora's fifth structure; built as home of Isaac Miers (1835-1891), Civil War veteran who married, in Bell County (1867), Victoria Morton (1841-1913), granddaughter of John Morton, a signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. About 1880, Miers moved west by covered wagon. He owned land and ranched in Edwards, Kimble, and Sutton counties. Hauling the lumber from San Angelo, he built this board-and-batten cottage in 1888. It now is a museum. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark--1970