The Russell-McFarland Homestead

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it its due. Out here in Burnet County, there's a Victorian residence with a story built right into its walls, layer by layer, family by family. William H. and Mary Russell put this house up in 1883 and 1884.

Solid, proud Victorian construction, the kind folks meant to last. And William was no stranger to endurance. He'd served in the Civil War, those long years from 1861 to 1865, and came home to Burnet County with something to prove.

He went on to head the Burnet school system for about fifteen years. That's fifteen years of shaping young minds in this part of Texas. Not a bad second chapter for a man who'd come through a war.

But in 1895, the Russells sold the place. And here's where this old house starts collecting stories like a front porch collects neighbors. Among the tenants who came through those doors was a man named J.

W. Edgar, who would go on to become state commissioner of education. Think about that.

A future state commissioner of education, sitting in those rooms, walking those floors. And he wasn't the only notable one passing through. J.

H. Gildart also called this place home for a time, and Gildart was one of the first Texas game wardens. One of the first.

Then came 1922, and the house found its anchor. Samuel A. and Pearl McFarland, Pearl born a Teagle, took ownership of the property, and their family has owned and preserved it ever since. Three generations of history soaked into those Victorian walls, and somebody made sure it would stay standing to tell the tale.

What the marker says

William H. and Mary Russell built this Victorian residence in 1883-84. Russell, a veteran of the Civil War (1861-65), headed the Burnet school system about 15 years. Sold in 1895, the house had such tenants as J. W. Edgar, later state commissioner of education, and J. H. Gildart, one of the first Texas game wardens. Since 1922 the property has been owned and preserved by the family of Samuel A. and Pearl (Teagle) McFarland. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1978