Graves-Payne House
Kopperl, Bosque County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This home dates to the ownership of the Aaron S. Graves family, who lived in Kentucky and Missouri before settling here in the Union Hill community of Bosque County by the 1870s. A carved limestone brick in the fireplace indicates the house was built in 1876. From 1940 to 1973, it was home to the family of Shelton Payne, a Georgia native who farmed the land. The vernacular stone structure, typical of pioneer homes of the area, features gabled dormers, a hipped roof, a double-pen floor plan, low windows with segmented arches above and a chimney. The farmstead includes a windmill, a cistern and storeroom, and a well. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Aaron S. Graves family, who had lived in Kentucky and Missouri, settled the Union Hill community of Bosque County by the 1870s, and a carved limestone brick in the fireplace dates this house to 1876. From 1940 to 1973 it was home to the family of Georgia native Shelton Payne, who farmed the surrounding land. The vernacular stone dwelling—with its gabled dormers, hipped roof, and double-pen plan—stands amid a windmill, cistern, and well typical of a self-sufficient pioneer farmstead.
Why it matters
The stone house and its outbuildings preserve the hard-won self-reliance of the pioneer farm families who settled the Texas hill country.
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Related people
- · Aaron S. Graves
- · Shelton Payne
Themes & tags
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