HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Benjamin Franklin and Mary Hay Langford, Jr. Home

Bandera, Bandera County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Bandera's early settlers included Lyman Wight's Mormon colony, which arrived in 1854. In 1890, John and Jennie Davenport Miller bought this site from colonists George and Virgine Minear hay. George and early Bandera settler Isaac Berry Langford helped build a home for the Millers, who sold it in 1904 to children of the Hays and Langfords: Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Langford, Jr., and his bride, Mary Emma Hay. The couple added to the house over the years, converting the one-story, l-plan design into a two-story block structure. Frank and Mary were active in the community and donated land across the street for a Mormon church. The long-time Langford family home serves as a reminder of Bandera's early history. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Bandera's early settlers included Lyman Wight's Mormon colony, which arrived in 1854, and this house grew from a home built for the Miller family with help from settler Isaac Berry Langford. In 1904 the Millers sold it to Frank Langford Jr. and his bride Mary Emma Hay, who expanded the one-story dwelling into a two-story home and donated land across the street for a Mormon church.

Why it matters

The Langford home preserves the layered settlement of the Texas Hill Country, from a frontier Mormon colony to the intermarried pioneer families who built a lasting community at Bandera.

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Related people

  • · Benjamin Franklin 'Frank' Langford, Jr.
  • · Mary Emma Hay Langford
  • · Lyman Wight
  • · John and Jennie Davenport Miller

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryHome

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