Robert E. Howard House - Cross Plains, TX
Posted by: QuesterMark
N 32° 07.289 W 099° 10.320
14S E 483775 N 3553913
Robert E. Howard created Conan the Barbarian and other characters. From 1924 to his death in 1936, while living in this house, he wrote most of the stories for which he is internationally renowned.
Waymark Code: WM5A02
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/03/2008
Views: 5
Constructed circa 1919, the Robert E. Howard House, Highway 36 west, Cross Plains, Callahan County, is a one- story, roughly T-shaped single family dwelling of box, or board-frame, construction. The vertical boards which serve as the structural system are sheathed in weatherboard, and the house rests on brick piers with brick infill. The intersecting gable roofs are covered with asphalt shingles. Turned posts with decorative spindlework support a shed roofed porch on the facade, or north elevation. Despite a shed roofed addition on the rear elevation and interior alterations, most of which are reversible, the house retains its original form and design and its floor plan has been essentially preserved. It retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, and location.
In 1919, Howard moved into the house with his parents, and from 1924 to his death in 1936, he wrote most of the stories for which he is internationally renowned. Howard wrote for the pulp fiction magazines which enjoyed an extensive popularity in the early and mid-twentieth century and created a subgenre of literature--heroic fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery--which attained its widest popularity almost thirty years after Howard's death. Although Howard wrote in a variety of genres and created a number of popular series characters, he enjoyed his greatest success in the subgenre of popular literature which he created and which featured his most successful and enduring character, Conan the Cimmerian. Regarded as one of the major twentieth-century exponents of fantasy literature, Howard's significance is national. The period of significance extends from 1919, when Howard, who had already embarked on his tentative writing career, and his parents moved into the house, until 1936, when Howard, despondent over the impending death of his mother, committed suicide. The Robert E. Howard House is the one property most closely associated with the writers life and career and served as both his home and office for his brief career.
From the NRHP narrative.
The Robert E. Howard House is currently the only property in Callahan County listed on the National Register.
Related waymarks:
Robert E. Howard (Texas Historical Marker): WM316V
Robert E. Howard (Gravesite): WM3176
Robert E. Howard Museum: WM5A35
Street address: 625 West Highway 36 Cross Plains, TX United States 76443
County / Borough / Parish: Callahan County
Year listed: 1994
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person: Robert E. Howard
Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Historic function: Domestic: Single Dwelling
Current function: Recreation and Culture: Museum
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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