Beverly-Harris House
McKinney, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Warren Tully Beverly (1857-1903) was a native of Collin County, attending Spring Creek School and Plano Institute. He studied law in the office of Joseph W. Baines, grandfather of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Beverly served as county attorney and later as judge of the 59th district court. In 1886 he built this Victorian house for his family. In 1903 it was sold to Louisa Kirkpatrick Harris. Members of the Harris family lived here until 1960. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979***
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Warren Tully Beverly, a Collin County native educated at Spring Creek School and the Plano Institute, read law in the office of Joseph W. Baines — grandfather of the future president Lyndon B. Johnson. He rose to county attorney and district judge, and in 1886 built this Victorian house for his family. After his death it passed to the Harris family, who kept it until 1960.
Why it matters
The home links an ordinary North Texas jurist to the family roots of a U.S. president, a reminder of how tightly interwoven the state's professional and political lineages could be.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Warren Tully Beverly
- · Joseph W. Baines
- · Louisa Kirkpatrick Harris
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Birthplace of Rebekah Baines Johnson
McKinney, TX
This McKinney site was home to Joseph Wilson Baines, a teacher, lawyer, newspaper editor, and Texas Secretary of State, when his daughter Rebekah was born in 1881. Rebekah studied at Baylor, became a teacher and journalist, and in 1907 married rancher and legislator Sam Early Johnson, Jr. Their eldest child, Lyndon Baines Johnson, rose through Congress to become the 36th president of the United States.
Dulaney House
McKinney, TX
Built in 1916 by Dallas banker John Field for his sister, this McKinney home stayed in the Dulaney family for more than half a century. Her son Joseph Field Dulaney, a local philanthropist, lived here until 1968 and donated the land across the street for the town's public library. With its Prairie School influences and wraparound veranda, the house reflects the comfortable domestic architecture of early-20th-century Texas.
Waddill-Morris Homesite
McKinney, TX
Kentucky-born Judge R.L. Waddill arrived in the young town of McKinney in 1853 with his stepson George S. Morris, buying land and putting down deep roots as the Collin County seat took shape. A circuit-riding district judge, Waddill also made an early gift to local education by building a schoolhouse in his own backyard and importing a teacher from West Virginia. The family's story stretches through the Civil War — Morris served in the Confederacy — and the home built after a fire remained in the family for over a century.
Fanny Finch Elementary School
McKinney, TX
Laura Frances "Fanny" Finch taught at McKinney's Collegiate Institute before marrying Henry Finch, a future legislator and mayor, in 1890. In 1917 she became one of the first women in Texas to serve on a school board, and she helped found the city's early literary and garden clubs. A recognized community leader, she was honored when this school was named for her in 1924.