Everard Sharrock, Jr. Farmstead
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This farmstead was part of the first settlement in north Texas, the Peters Colony. William Smalling Peters received a land grant in 1841 to help populate the newly-formed Republic of Texas. The Sharrock family moved from Illinois. After receiving 640 acres, Everard Sharrock, Jr. (1826-1913) built his homestead here in 1847. The family left Texas in 1853 and the land passed to Irish immigrant Thomas J. Young. His son Andrew A. Young (1843-1900) built the farmhouse in 1872. Other outbuildings were added in the early twentieth century by subsequent owners. The farmstead includes a log cabin, log barn, hand-dug well and root cellar built of eastern red cedar and limestone, all dating from 1847. The buildings represent pre-railroad folk log construction and demonstrate how settlers used local materials. Settlers used v-notches at the corners to connect adjoining hand-hewn logs. Rafters were connected at the roof line with mortise and tenon joints, thus eliminating the need for a ridge beam. This popular construction method originated with German and Swedish immigrants, while the one-room rectangular design came from Scots-Irish and English influences. The city of Dallas received the property in 2006 and the Sharrock site became a city of Dallas landmark in 2013. Today, the farmstead is the earliest known collection of log structures in the Dallas area still standing on its original site. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2016
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This farmstead traces to the Peters Colony, the first organized settlement in north Texas, established under a land grant to help populate the young Republic of Texas. Everard Sharrock, Jr. built his homestead here in 1847; after the family left, the land passed to an Irish immigrant's family who added the 1872 farmhouse. Its log cabin, barn, and outbuildings, joined with hand-hewn v-notches, survive as the earliest known collection of log structures in the Dallas area on their original site.
Why it matters
The farmstead preserves the folk building traditions and hard frontier settlement of Republic-era Texas, blending immigrant construction methods into a living record of early pioneer life.
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Related people
- · William Smalling Peters
- · Everard Sharrock, Jr.
- · Thomas J. Young
Themes & tags
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