Herfurth House
Rowlett, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Accompanying the agricultural boom in the late 19th century was the influx of immigrant German and Swiss farm families to the northeastern portion of Dallas County. Among the German families buying farms near Rowlett was Johann Christian Herfurth (1835-1914) and his wife, Anna Barbara Etter (1842-1925). One son, John Samuel Herfurth (1879-1958), located the Dallas County farm land and brought his parents here. The farm was purchased in 1908, originally consisted of 151 acres and included a small 3-room house on the property. Soon after obtaining the property, around 1910, Herfurth added two rooms and a hallway to the original house. A second major addition in 1918 produced the basic design of the airplane bungalow house as it exists today. The exterior of the house is a classic craftsman style with strong horizontal lines, a low pitched roof, deep eaves and small panes in the upper window sashes. There is evidence that the contractor relied on plans from Sears, Roebuck & Co. In the 1930s, nationwide research into scientific land management practices increased. J.S. Herfurth followed those developments closely and worked with Dallas County extension service agents to implement new techniques, such as contour plowing and crop rotation. He was named a local farm conservationist and awarded the honor of triple-a farmer. In addition to extensive cotton production, Herfurth was also interested in animal husbandry, particularly the breeding of horses and mules. J.S.’s youngest son, Carl Leroy Herfurth, and his wife, Helen Hall, were the last members of the family to own and occupy the Herfurth homestead.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As an agricultural boom drew German and Swiss farm families to northeastern Dallas County around 1900, John Samuel Herfurth found this land and brought his immigrant parents, Johann and Anna Barbara Herfurth, to farm it beginning in 1908. Over the next decade the family enlarged the small house into a classic craftsman "airplane bungalow," apparently built from Sears, Roebuck plans, with deep eaves and horizontal lines. J.S. Herfurth became a noted conservation farmer, adopting contour plowing and crop rotation and breeding horses and mules, and the homestead stayed in the family for generations.
Why it matters
The Herfurth House captures the immigrant farming families who shaped rural Texas and the early-twentieth-century turn toward scientific, conservation-minded agriculture.
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Related people
- · Johann Christian Herfurth
- · John Samuel Herfurth
Themes & tags
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