Avery and Mary Turner House
Amarillo, Potter County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Avery and Mary (Ten Eyck) Turner moved here in 1902. Avery was an executive for the Santa Fe Railroad, his employer for 58 years. Mary helped organize the local American Red Cross chapter and was active with the Salvation Army and other groups. In 1910, the Turners built this home modeled after Mary’s parents’ home in New Jersey. The house stayed in the family until Mary’s death in 1951. One of Amarillo’s very few Dutch colonial revival homes, this two-story side gable brick house has a full-width porch with massive Tuscan columns and a large shed roof dormer. An original brick carriage house later became a guest cottage.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Avery Turner, a Santa Fe Railroad executive who spent fifty-eight years with the line, moved to Amarillo with his wife Mary in 1902. In 1910 the couple built this two-story Dutch colonial revival house—a rare style locally—modeled on Mary's family home in New Jersey, with a full-width porch, Tuscan columns, and a brick carriage house. Mary was active in the Red Cross and Salvation Army, and the home stayed in the family until her death in 1951.
Why it matters
The house reflects how railroad executives and their families brought Eastern tastes and civic institutions to the fast-growing towns of the West.
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Related people
- · Avery Turner
- · Mary Ten Eyck Turner
Themes & tags
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