Varner-Hogg Home (The "Varner")

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. They call it the Varner-Hogg Home, or just The Varner, and that name alone carries more Texas history than most places twice its size. It sits in Brazoria County on land that goes back to 1824, when a Spanish land grant was made to a man named Martin Varner.

That's before Texas was Texas, friends. Before the Republic, before the star on the flag. The ground beneath this house was already spoken for.

The house itself was built by a sugar planter named C. R. Patton, and it stood and weathered and watched the decades roll by the way only old houses can.

Then it became something else entirely. It became the last home of James Stephen Hogg, the first native Texan ever elected governor of this state. Think about that for a moment.

Not just any governor. The first one born on Texas soil to hold that office. And this was where he came at the end of his road.

The house passed through time, and by 1920 it had been restored, brought back to something worthy of its story. Then, in 1958, a woman named Miss Ima Hogg gave it to the State of Texas. Gave it.

Just like that. A piece of land older than statehood, a house with a governor's name on it, handed over so the rest of us could hold it too. Some gifts leave a mark.

This one left a landmark.

What the marker says

Last home of James Stephen Hogg, first native Texan to be elected governor. Located on an 1824 Spanish land grant made to Martin Varner. House built by sugar planter C. R. Patton. Restored 1920. Given to the State, 1958, by Miss Ima Hogg.