Dr. H. V. Copeland Home
Grand Prairie, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dr. H. V. Copeland Home Early Grand Prairie resident Barney P. Hale and his wife Ruth built this home for their family in 1902. The white clapboard residence, which features narrow windows and a high-pitched roof, is typical of early area farmhouses. In 1908 the Hales sold their home to local physician Dr. Horace Victor Copeland (1875 - 1969). A native of the pioneer Watson Community in Tarrant County, now part of the City of Arlington, Dr. Copeland was educated at Barnes University in St. Louis and Fort Worth University, where he graduated with a medical degree in 1901. After practicing medicine in Euless for a year, he moved to Grand Prairie, then a small railroad town of 500 people. Here he served residents of the surrounding rural area, often making calls on horseback. During his local medical career, which spanned more than fifty years, he delivered over 4,000 babies. Dr. Copeland was a prominent community leader and was active in the First Presbyterian Church and the Sam R. Hamilton Masonic Lodge. He and his wife Frances Willard Watson Copeland were the parents of two children, Frances and H. Victor. Following Dr. Copeland's death in 1969 the family home was owned by a grandson, Wayne Noble Doyal. 1982
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1902 by early residents Barney and Ruth Hale, this white clapboard farmhouse—with its narrow windows and steep roof—typified the area's early homes. In 1908 it became the residence of Dr. Horace Victor Copeland, a physician trained in St. Louis and Fort Worth who settled in the small railroad town of Grand Prairie and served the surrounding countryside for more than fifty years, often riding to calls on horseback and delivering over 4,000 babies before his death in 1969.
Why it matters
The country doctor was an indispensable figure in rural America, and this home honors a half-century of horseback house calls that bound a growing Texas town to its physician.
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Related people
- · Horace Victor Copeland
- · Barney P. Hale
Themes & tags
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