Armstrong-Adams House
Salado, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dr. David H. Armstrong, who served as one of the first trustees of the Salado public free schools, and his wife, Julia, built this home between 1869 and 1872. It later became the residence of a succession of Salado doctors, including Dr. D.G. Adams and Dr. J.E. Guthrie. The central cottage plan residence features elements of the Greek Revival style, such as the Classical portico with Doric piers over the entryway. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Dr. David H. Armstrong, one of the first trustees of Salado's public free schools, built this home with his wife Julia between 1869 and 1872. It passed through a line of Salado physicians, including Dr. D. G. Adams and Dr. J. E. Guthrie, and shows off Greek Revival touches — a classical portico carried on Doric piers over the entry.
Why it matters
The house links early public education and small-town medicine in Reconstruction-era Central Texas, both anchored by the same civic-minded family.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · David H. Armstrong
- · D. G. Adams
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Norton-Orgain House
Salado, TX
Built about 1872 by Edward R.A. Buckles, this two-story Salado house pairs Doric columns below with Victorian turned woodwork above. Confederate veteran Colonel Nimrod Lindsay Norton bought it in 1873; a member of the Capitol Building Commission, he donated Burnet County granite for the state capitol's exterior. In 1882 it passed to educators John and Kate Orgain, who taught at Salado College and area schools and left their own mark on the town.
Old Anderson Place
Salado, TX
James B. Anderson, one of Salado's founders and a school trustee, built this house in 1860 at the edge of an old Indian campground, and over the years it sheltered a string of the town's leaders, lawyers, and doctors. Its hand-blown window glass and cedar-and-panel walls survive from that era. Most notably, a young James E. Ferguson boarded here in 1883 while attending Old Salado College—decades before he became governor of Texas and husband of the state's first woman governor.
Home of Wellborn Barton
Salado, TX
Wellborn Barton (1821–1883) was a pioneer physician who practiced across this region of central Texas and served for many years as a trustee of Salado College, founded in 1866. His home stood where two great arteries of the era passed by — the old military road and the Chisholm cattle trail. The house was built by contractor John Hendrickson.
Home of Orville Thomas Tyler
Salado, TX
Orville Thomas Tyler (1810–1886) was a pioneer Texan who wore many hats in the young state — county judge, member of the Legislature, and president of the board that ran Salado College. He built this home in 1857, and the State of Texas marked it in 1936. It survives as a witness to the leadership that knit frontier communities into governed towns.