HistoricSiteMarkers
Early RepublicCivil War

Earle-Napier-Kinnard House

Waco, McLennan County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Original two rooms were built in 1850's by John Baylis Earle. He married Emma C. Nelson; their children--J.B., JR., Henry S., Nelson, Anne--were born here. Earle manufactured Confederate uniforms in mill built in 1861. Main house was built in 1868 by J.S. Napier and wife Mary, who with seven children moved here from Alabama. The Rev. D.C. Kinnard married Sarah Napier; Mary, the Kinnards' daughter, lived here until her death, 1957.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This Waco house grew in stages across turbulent decades: John Baylis Earle built its first two rooms in the 1850s and, in a mill raised in 1861, manufactured uniforms for the Confederacy. The main house followed in 1868 for the Napier family, newly arrived from Alabama, and a Napier daughter lived here until 1957.

Why it matters

Homes like this trace a single Texas family's passage from antebellum prosperity through Confederate war production to Reconstruction and beyond.

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Related people

  • ยท John Baylis Earle
  • ยท J. S. Napier

Themes & tags

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