Claiborne Kyle Log House
Kyle, Hays County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Col. John Claiborne Kyle (d. 1867) and his wife Lucy (Bugg) (d. 1863), natives of Tennessee came to the Republic of texas from Mississippi in 1844. they built this four-pen dog trot log home soon after they purchased land here in 1850. Constructed of hand-hewn cedar logs, it was located on the Austin-San Antonio stage route. An active political leader, Kyle had five sons who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, including Capt. Ferg Kyle, for whom the town of Kyle (4 mi. NE) was named. The Kyle house now serves as a reminder of this prominent pioneer family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Col. John Claiborne Kyle and his wife Lucy came to the Republic of Texas from Mississippi in 1844 and built this hand-hewn cedar log home after buying land here in 1850. Its four-pen dog-trot form stood along the busy Austin–San Antonio stage route, making it a fixture of early travel and politics. Five of Kyle's sons served in the Confederate Army, and the nearby town of Kyle takes its name from one of them, Capt. Ferg Kyle.
Why it matters
The homestead links Texas's frontier settlement, its stagecoach lifelines, and the Confederate service of a prominent pioneer family.
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Related people
- · John Claiborne Kyle
- · Lucy Bugg Kyle
- · Ferg Kyle
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Eli T. Merriman Home
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Dr. Eli T. Merriman, a Yale graduate who came to Texas in 1838, built this hand-hewn timber house about 1846 as one of the three original owners of the San Marcos townsite and the area's first physician. He later lived along the coast at Brownsville, Banquete, and Corpus Christi, where his son founded the Corpus Christi "Caller." During the Civil War the family was famously divided, with Merriman and two sons serving the Confederacy while another son fought for the Union.
Joseph W. Earnest Home
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Joseph B. Rogers House
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Joseph B. Rogers (1833–1912), son of settlers who reached Texas in 1831, rode with Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War before buying this Hays County land in 1869. In the early 1870s he hired local workmen to raise this native limestone house, built in the pioneer fashion with a central hall and a chimney at each end. His descendants preserved the home, replacing its wooden porch with concrete in 1916.
Kyle Cemetery
Kyle, TX
Colonel Claiborne Kyle, one of Hays County's first settlers, buried his adopted son here in 1849 — the earliest recorded interment, though local lore claims a man hanged from a live oak on the grounds came first, giving rise to 'the hanging tree.' Kyle is said to have set aside land for a community burial ground, formalized when his son Polk deeded five acres in 1877 and further parcels were added into the next century. Among the pioneers and family members resting here are veterans of the Civil War and every major conflict through Vietnam.