Williams-Erwin House

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'm gonna let it breathe a little. The year is 1893, and somewhere in Waxahachie, a contractor by the name of C.J. Griggs is rolling up his sleeves.

He's been hired to build a home for a man named Edward Williams, and not just any home. A Victorian home. The kind that announces, without a word, that cotton is good and business is better.

Williams was a local cotton merchant, and in the late 19th century, cotton merchants in Ellis County were doing just fine, thank you very much. This house was meant to show it. Griggs supervised every bit of the construction, and when the work was done, the result was something worth slowing down for.

Beaded boards and shingling dressed up the exterior walls. And the porch; well, the porch got the full treatment: elaborate Eastlake style detailing, the kind of ornamental work that says somebody cared deeply about the impression this house would make from the street. For about nine years, it was Edward Williams's house to keep.

Then, in 1902, he sold it. The buyer was a man named R.K. Erwin, described, just like Williams, as a prominent businessman.

Prominent businessmen recognizing what prominent businessmen build, I suppose. The Erwin family held onto it for a good long while after that, right up until 1943. Four decades of one family inside walls that another man's prosperity built.

The Williams-Erwin House: two names, one front porch, and a whole lot of Ellis County history tucked into the beadwork.

What the marker says

Erected in 1893 for Edward Williams, this Victorian home reflects the affluence of local cotton merchants during the late 19th century. Waxahachie contractor C.J. Griggs supervised the construction. Beaded boards and shingling decorate the exterior walls, and elaborate eastlake style detailings adorns the porch. Williams sold the house in 1902 to R.K. Erwin, another prominent businessman. The Erwin family owned it until 1943.