Aldridge House
Plano, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
LOCATED IN HAGGARD PARK, PLANO’S FIRST RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD AND LOCALLY-DESIGNATED HERITAGE DISTRICT, THE ALDRIDGE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1918 FOR CHARLES “C.C.” ALDRIDGE (1873-1950), HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH A. (ARMSTRONG) (1877-1964), AND THEIR FAMILY. BORN TO EARLY PLANO PIONEERS AND LANDOWNERS J.K. AND MARIA (LIVELY) ALDRIDGE, C.C. ATTENDED WESTMORELAND COLLEGE IN SAN ANTONIO AND ACQUIRED BUSINESSES IN THE COTTON INDUSTRY. ALDRIDGE WAS AN INNOVATOR IN COTTON SEED STRAINS, ASSISTING FARMERS DURING THE EARLY 1930s AND MANAGING HIS OWN FARM, ALDRIDGE SEED FARMS. C.C. AND ELIZABETH BECAME LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY. ELIZABETH WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE PLANO PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION AND PRESIDENT OF THE THURSDAY STUDY CLUB, A LITERARY ORGANIZATION. C.C. SERVED ON THE PLANO SCHOOL BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL AND ADVOCATED FOR THE PLANO GOOD ROADS CLUB AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS. IN 1910, ALDRIDGE PURCHASED AN 1890 HOME ON THIS LOT FROM COL. WILLIAM M. WEAVER, AN EARLY SETTLER AND FARMER. IN 1918, THE HOUSE WAS EITHER COMPLETELY REMODELED OR WAS DISMANTLED AND A NEW HOUSE CONSTRUCTED IN THE PRAIRIE STYLE WITH MISSION ARCHITECTURAL STYLE DETAILS. THE STRUCTURE IS A TWO-STORY CLAPBOARD HOUSE WITH TWO BRICK CHIMNEYS, A LOW-PITCHED ROOF WITH WIDE EAVES AND RIBBON WINDOWS FORMING A HORIZONTAL BAND ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE. A WIDE ONE-STORY PORCH ACROSS THE FRONT EXTENDS TO FORM A PORTE-COCHERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. CORNICE-LINE WOOD BRACKETS IN THE MISSION STYLE EMPHASIZE THE CORNERS. AS THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITECTURE IN THE HAGGARD PARK HERITAGE DISTRICT, THE ALDRIDGE HOUSE STANDS AS A TANGIBLE REMINDER OF THE HERITAGE OF THE PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2019
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1918 in Plano's first residential neighborhood, the Aldridge House is the district's lone example of Prairie-style architecture, with Mission-style detailing, a low-pitched roof, wide eaves, and ribbon windows. It was the home of Charles "C.C." Aldridge, son of early Plano pioneers, who built businesses in the cotton trade and pioneered improved cotton-seed strains that helped local farmers through the hard early 1930s. C.C. and his wife Elizabeth were civic leaders — she led the town's first PTA, and he served on the school board and city council while championing road improvements.
Why it matters
The house captures the confident, community-minded prosperity of a North Texas cotton town in the early twentieth century, when agricultural innovation and civic boosterism went hand in hand.
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Related people
- · Charles "C.C." Aldridge
- · Elizabeth Armstrong Aldridge
Themes & tags
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