Augustus Darby Home
Moscow, Polk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
For 6 months, 25 slaves drew square nails from old lumber to seal with hand-sawed rough cypress this pegged double-log house built in 1859 by Augustus Darby. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This double-log house, built in 1859 by Augustus Darby in the East Texas piney woods of Polk County, was raised by enslaved labor: for six months, twenty-five enslaved people drew and straightened square nails from old lumber and hand-sawed the rough cypress that sealed the pegged structure. The inscription's plain accounting of that work is a stark window into how antebellum Texas homes were built on the eve of the Civil War. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.
Why it matters
The house is a tangible record of enslaved craftsmanship in antebellum Texas, naming the labor that too many such structures leave unspoken.
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Related people
- · Augustus Darby
Themes & tags
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