HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Hill House

Moody, McLennan County, Texas

Marker Inscription

George Hill (1878-1958) came to Texas from Tennessee as a child. His family settled in Moody and he worked on family farm. He began working in a local hardware store when he was nineteen and later purchased the store. Hill had this home built for his family in 1904 and sold it to his brother Charles in 1910. The bungalow, which exhibits Queen Anne style influences, is typical of those built by many families at the turn of the century.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

George Hill came to Moody as a child from Tennessee and worked the family farm before taking a job at nineteen in a local hardware store that he eventually bought. In 1904 he built this Queen Anne–influenced bungalow for his family, selling it to his brother Charles in 1910. The house is a typical example of the comfortable homes many rising small-town merchant families built at the turn of the twentieth century.

Why it matters

The home reflects the everyday upward mobility of a Central Texas merchant class and the popular residential architecture that defined small American towns around 1900.

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Related people

  • · George Hill
  • · Charles Hill

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

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