Heard-Baker House
San Marcos, Hays County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William Green built this house about 1889 and sold it to rancher Samuel McGehee Heard (d. 1909). At the time, the homesite included enough surrounding land to graze livestock. Members of the Heard family lived here until 1944, when Robert Lee Baker (d. 1957) purchased the house. Designed in the Queen Anne style with a distinctive octagonal corner tower, it features Eastlake influences in the decorative porch millwork. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built around 1889, this Queen Anne home near San Marcos was bought by rancher Samuel McGehee Heard, whose surrounding land was ample enough to graze livestock. His family lived here until 1944, when Robert Lee Baker purchased the house. Its octagonal corner tower and Eastlake porch millwork mark it as a showpiece of late-nineteenth-century Texas taste.
Why it matters
Ranchers' fine homes illustrate how the cattle economy created wealth that reshaped central Texas towns in the Gilded Age.
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Related people
- · Samuel McGehee Heard
- · Robert Lee Baker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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