William Green House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1853, two Kentucky pioneers named William Green and his wife India bought themselves a piece of Lavaca County land and got to work. They didn't just stake a claim and call it done.

They erected a house. And not just any house. This one was built in a style that was typical of the era, with a central dog trot hall running right down the middle, dividing two main rooms.

Now if you've never stood in a dog trot hall, picture a breezeway right through the heart of the house, open to the sky at both ends, catching whatever breeze Texas saw fit to offer. It was practical, it was proud, and it lasted. That house is still standing on this land.

Then came the next generation. William Green, Jr., and his wife Julia moved in and put down roots of their own, living there eight years. But they weren't just keeping house.

They were running the Winnton post office and a general store, right out of that same property. From 1869 to 1889, that store became something more than a place to buy goods. It was the social center for this whole rural stretch of Lavaca County.

Think about what that meant out here. Folks coming in for news, for neighbors, for a moment of something other than the long quiet of working land. Twenty years of that.

Then the years rolled on, as years will do, and the property found a new calling. The Boy Scouts of America took it over as a camp. A house built by Kentucky pioneers in 1853, turned gathering place, turned general store and post office, and now a place where young Texans learn to make their way in the world.

William and India Green would probably get a kick out of that.

What the marker says

William Green and wife India, pioneers from Kentucky, bought this land and erected a house here in 1853. Style is typical of era, with central "dog trot" hall dividing two main rooms. William Green, Jr., and wife Julia, who lived here 8 years, ran the Winnton post office and a general store. From 1869 to 1889 the store was a social center for this rural area. Property is now used as camp by Boy Scouts of America. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -- 1970