Wood-Jackson House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Wood-Jackson House. Now settle in, because this one house has seen more chapters than most towns. It starts in 1910, when a man named Tobias Wood, known to everyone as T.R., showed up at a sheriff's auction and walked away with some lots.

That right there tells you something about T.R. He had an eye for opportunity. He took those lots and built himself a Queen Anne style house, the kind with front, rear, and side-facing gables reaching up in every direction, a semi-wraparound covered porch held up by columns, and spindlework ornamentation that says, plain as day, somebody here had taste.

T.R. himself had come up working cattle on his father's ranch out on San Jose Island, so he knew what hard work looked like. But T.R. had bigger plans. When he moved to Victoria to practice law, he didn't leave the house empty.

He left it in good hands, specifically those of his brother, Will W. Wood, and Will's wife, Alpha Kennedy Wood, who made it their home. Then comes 1923, and the house changes hands again.

Stephen Ford Jackson and his wife Irene, owners of the Jackson Seafood Company, purchased the place. And those Jacksons were not the kind of family to sit still either. Their sons, James and Norvell, went on to start a boat building company called Jackson Marine Service, and if that weren't enough, a third business: Jackson Channel and Dock.

One house, one auction in 1910, and look what it set in motion. Cattle ranching, law, seafood, boat building, a dock. Some houses just seem to attract people who can't stop building things.

What the marker says

Tobias "T.R." Wood purchased lots at a sheriff's auction in 1910 and built this Queen Anne style house. T.R. worked on his father's cattle ranch located on San Jose Island. When T.R. moved to Victoria to practice law, his brother, Will W. Wood and wife Alpha Kennedy Wood, resided in the home. In 1923, the house was purchased by Stephen Ford Jackson and wife Irene, owners of the Jackson Seafood Company. Their sons, James and Norvell Jackson, started a boat building company called Jackson Marine Service and a third business, Jackson Channel and Dock. Features include front, rear and side-facing gables, a semi-wraparound covered porch supported by columns and spindlework ornamentation.