DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm drawing this straight from the words on the official Texas Historical Commission marker, so let me set the record right for you. Somewhere out east of San Angelo, there stands a rock house that has no business still standing — and yet there it is, stubborn as the men and women who built it, older than just about anything else left upright in the whole Concho Valley. The story starts with a man named Richard Franklin Tankersley, born June 23, 1828, down in Georgia.
He married Annie Allen of Aberdeen, Mississippi, in 1848, and the two of them pointed themselves toward Texas the way ambitious people in that era always seemed to — like the state was a rumor too good not to investigate. By 1864, they had planted themselves on Spring Creek and gone into the ranching life, running cattle on open land the way folks did back then, when the range seemed like it might just go on forever. But nothing goes on forever, and the open land started getting carved up for settlements.
So Tankersley made a move. He purchased 960 acres east of San Angelo, right there on the Main Concho River, from a woman named Mary Maverick — widow of Samuel Maverick — and he paid her 960 gold dollars for the privilege. Not paper.
Gold. That land had a long history before it ever reached Tankersley's hands. It originated with the Fisher-Miller Colony on August 28, 1851, and changed hands multiple times before Samuel Maverick himself acquired it in 1860, along with many other properties.
By the time Tankersley counted out those gold dollars, that ground had already lived several lives. Now here's where the story really gets interesting, because what Tankersley built on that land was not some rough-hewn frontier shack. He built a rock house — and I mean rock, locally quarried, fitted and raised by men who understood stone.
There was no cement available at the time, so they made their own plaster out of limestone, gravel, and buffalo hair. Buffalo hair. That mixture has held together for more than 135 years, which ought to give any modern contractor pause.
The doors, the oak flooring, the handmade square nails — none of that came easy. Oxen hauled it all the way from San Antonio to the Concho River. And because this was 1864 and the frontier did not extend a warm welcome, Tankersley built gun ports right into the rock walls and threw up a high rock fence around the whole house.
It was a home built for living, yes — but also built for surviving. The construction bears a striking resemblance to Fort Concho, which was going up around the same time, with the same large cornerstones and solid stone lintels. It is thought that some of the very same German stonemasons who built that fort may have turned around and built this house.
If that's true, then those craftsmen left two monuments to their skill standing in the same stretch of Texas — one military, one domestic, both still here. The Tankersleys worked that land and called it home until 1878, when their marriage ended in divorce. After that, the property passed through several sets of hands, as land often does.
Then in 1900, it was sold to a man named J. Willis Johnson, and the Johnson family held onto it for 84 years. In 2016, the property was designated a State Antiquities Landmark, and the marker you're hearing right now was placed in 2017.
The R.F. Tankersley Homestead is thought to be the oldest home still standing in the Concho Valley. Built from buffalo hair and stone and sheer determination, hauled in piece by piece on the backs of oxen, fitted together by craftsmen nobody even remembers by name — and still standing.
Richard Franklin Tankersley may not have known what he was building for the ages, but the ages took it anyway.
What the marker says
Richard Franklin Tankersley was born June 23, 1828, in Georgia and married Annie Allen of Aberdeen, Mississippi, in 1848. They moved to Texas and in 1864 established a home as ranchers on Spring Creek. Soon land in the area began to be sold for settlements, dividing the open land where free-range cattle grazed. Tankersley purchased 960 acres east of San Angelo on Main Concho River from Samuel Maverick's widow, Mary, for 960 gold dollars. The property originated with the Fisher-Miller Colony on August 28, 1851, and changed hands multiple times until it was eventually sold along with many other properties to Maverick in 1860. R.F. Tankersley built this rock house with locally quarried rock. No cement was available at the time, but a combination of limestone, gravel and buffalo hair made a plaster that has lasted for more than 135 years. Oxen carried doors, oak flooring and handmade square nails from San Antonio to the Concho River. Gun ports were placed in the rock walls and there was a high rock fence around the house for protection. The home's construction is very similar to Fort Concho, which was built around the same time, with large cornerstones and sold stone lintels. It is thought that some of the same German stonemasons who built the fort may have constructed the house. The Tankersleys homesteaded on the property until their marriage ended in divorce in 1878. The property had several owners over the years before it was sold to J. Willis Johnson in 1900 and kept in the family for 84 years. The R.F. Tankersley Homestead is thought to be the oldest home still standing in the Concho Valley. The property was designated a State Antiquities Landmark in 2016. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2017