Cullen House
San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Greek colonial home; pediments, Doric columns. Garret ballroom runs length of house, has opening fan-shaped windows. Long, wide center hall. 5 fireplaces with crane in kitchen chimney. Virgin pine wood in wide board floors, walls. Built 1839 by Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen, settler from Georgia, soldier of Texas Revolution, in 3rd Congress of the Republic. Friend to President Lamar, he wrote bill to fund schools (including state university) with public lands. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1839, this Greek Revival home with Doric columns and a garret ballroom belonged to Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen, a Georgia settler who fought in the Texas Revolution and served in the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas. A friend of President Mirabeau Lamar, Cullen authored legislation setting aside public lands to fund public schools and a state university. The house survives as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Why it matters
Cullen's education bill helped lay the financial groundwork for Texas public schooling and its university system, tying this private home to the origins of public education in the Republic.
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Related people
- · Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen
- · Mirabeau B. Lamar
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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