Mounts-Wright House
Denton, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Mounts family first arrived in Denton County in the 1850s from Virginia. W.H. Mounts (1833-1889) and his wife, Martha Elizabeth (Mattie) Mounts (1838-1914), were early residents of the new county seat of Denton, which had been moved from New Alton in 1857. Through their businesses, farming and landowning, the family contributed significantly to the early developments of Denton. W.H. Mounts bought 15 acres of land from his mother, Emily Mounts, on April 6, 1867. The land became known as Mounts Farm. Cotton and fruit were grown behind the house. The original Mounts family home burned down in 1893, four years after the death of W.H. Mounts. In 1898, Mattie Mounts hired J.B. Wilson as the contractor for a new two-story house with eight rooms. The house was built in the Queen Anne style which was consistent with the popularity of the Victorian-era architecture in Denton at this time. The exterior of the house features a veranda wrap-around porch, clapboard siding and fish scale shingles. The interior floors are of heart pine and the front door and stair balusters are examples of Eastlake lathe, gouge and chisel work. The diamond window at the downstairs landing is a focal point for the house's façade. One of the Mounts' eight children, Sena Mounts married William Wesley Wright in 1896 and the couple's five children were raised in the Mounts-Wright House. The house was officially deeded to Sena in 1914 at the time of her mother's death. Sena Wright died in 1952 and her husband lived in the house until his death in 1959. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2016
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Mounts family reached Denton County from Virginia in the 1850s, and W.H. and Mattie Mounts became pillars of the new county seat through farming, landholding, and business. After the original family home burned in 1893, Mattie commissioned this eight-room Queen Anne house in 1898, its wraparound veranda, fish-scale shingles, and diamond window showcasing the era's Victorian taste. The home stayed in the family for generations, raising the children of daughter Sena and her husband William Wright.
Why it matters
The house documents how a single pioneering family helped grow a raw county seat into a settled town, leaving their prosperity written in Victorian architecture.
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Related people
- · W.H. Mounts
- · Martha Elizabeth Mounts
- · Sena Mounts Wright
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Denton County
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