Sam Houston's Home -- Nacogdoches TX
N 31° 36.163 W 094° 39.327
15R E 342953 N 3497590
The first home owned by Sam Houston earned a mention from the WPA writers in their Guide to Texas
Waymark Code: WMXJME
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2018
Views: 3
In 1940 when the WPA writers visited, the site of the first home owned by Sam Houston was a hotel marked with a small bronze plaque. In 2018, it is the Nacogdoches City Hall.
From the WPA Guide to Texas:
"The Liberty Hotel, southwest corner of the public square, stands
on the SITE OF SAM HOUSTON'S HOME."
The "southwest corner the public square" is located West Pilar Street and S Pecan Ave in downtown Nacogdoches.
One of the mythical men of Texas, to plaques at the corner of Pillar and pecan streets mark the site of the first home owned in Texas by General Sam Houston, commander of Texas forces is San Jacinto, one of the most mythical figures in Texas history.
This building is now home to the Nacogdoches City Hall and Council Chambers.
The 2 markers, one erected in 1936 and the other in 2009, read as follows:
"Site of the First Home in Texas Owned by General Sam Houston
Site of the First Home in Texas
Owned by
GENERAL SAM HOUSTON
Erected in 1836 by
John Forbes
Commissary General of the Army
at San Jacinto
Purchased by General Houston
April 10, 1839
Marked by the State of Texas
1936"
The modern marker installed 73 years later reads:
"Sam Houston's First Home in Texas
Sam Houston made his first home in Texas in this historic town of Nacogdoches. A former Tennessee governor and U.S. Congressman, Houston left Washington, D.C. for Texas in December of 1832. The presence of Tennesseeans and fellow Masons Adolphus Sterne and Henry Raguet made Nacogdoches an agreeable place to settle.
Houston boarded with the Sternes and soon set up a law practice. The Sternes sponsored his baptism into the Catholic Church, enabling him to own property under Mexican law. Houston's arrival in Nacogdoches came very soon after the settlers of Anahuac, Velasco and Nacogdoches had driven out their Mexican garrisons in the first actions of the Texas Revolution, and he represented Nacogdoches as a delegate in San Felipe at the Convention in 1833 and the Consultation of 1835.
Although frequently away from Nacogdoches during the Texas Revolution and early Republic, Houston maintained close ties with the town. His friendship with Thomas J. Rusk, forged while they were both citizens of Nacogdoches, lasted through wars, independence and statehood; the men served together as Texas' first U.S. senators.
In an 1849 affidavit witnessed by Rusk, Houston stated that he first "domiciled in Nacogdoches in February 1833," and he continued to declare his residence in Nacogdoches "and no other place" until 1839. Although many places in the state can make valid claims to Sam Houston, only Nacogdoches can claim to be his first permanent Texas home.
(2009)
Marker is the property of the State of Texas"
Book: Texas
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 583
Year Originally Published: 1940
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