Old Bass Home
Denison, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Originally at 215 W. Houston, Sherman) Oldest extant house in city. Erected in 1850s by Dr. R. L. Bullock. Built around typical "dog run," or entry hall. Had first window glass in county. Family home of Confederate Col. T. C. Bass since 1867. His daughter Nettie, born here 1868, lived in home 97 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in the 1850s by Dr. R. L. Bullock, this dog-run house was among the finest of early North Texas homes—reportedly the first in the county to boast glass windows. From 1867 it was home to Confederate Col. T. C. Bass and his descendants, including daughter Nettie, who was born under its roof in 1868 and lived there for nearly a century.
Why it matters
As the oldest surviving house in the city, it anchors the frontier-to-settlement story of North Texas and the long shadow the Civil War cast over families who put down roots in its aftermath.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
This house was built in the 1850s, when North Texas was still close to the frontier. Grayson County sat on the Red River, just across from the Indian Territory, and settlers were steadily turning the region's prairies into farms and towns. Sherman, the county seat where the house originally stood, was a young community then, and its homes were mostly simple and practical.
The house is a dog-run design: two rooms joined by an open or central passage. It was one of the most common house forms on the Southern and Texas frontier. The central hall pulled breezes through the building in the hot months, and the plan could be built with modest materials and extended as a family grew.
The decades that followed brought upheaval. Texas joined the Confederacy, and when the Civil War ended the state entered the difficult years of Reconstruction. The house's second chapter began in 1867, in the middle of that transformation, when a Confederate veteran made it his family's home.
People & events
The house was built by Dr. R. L. Bullock in the 1850s. According to the marker, it had the first window glass in the county. That may sound like a small thing, but on the frontier, glass had to be shipped in over long distances. Many early homes made do with shutters, oiled paper, or cloth, so glazed windows marked this as an unusual house in its time.
In 1867 the house became the family home of Col. T. C. Bass, a Confederate officer. The next year his daughter Nettie was born under its roof, and her story is the most remarkable thread here: she lived in the home for 97 years. Her life stretched from the first years after the Civil War into the modern age, and she saw the arrival of railroads, automobiles, electricity, two world wars, and much more, all while living in the house where she was born.
The house was originally at 215 W. Houston in Sherman, and it was later moved to Denison. That move is part of its survival story. In 1968 it was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, recognized as the oldest extant house in the city.
Its place in the American story
The Old Bass Home carries in one building the passage from frontier settlement to the modern South. Its dog-run plan links it to a folk building tradition that spread with settlers across the American South and into Texas, and few examples from this early period still stand in North Texas.
It also reflects the long reach of the Civil War. Across the South, veterans returned home and rebuilt their family lives in the years of Reconstruction. The Bass family's long tenure in the house, anchored by a Confederate officer and carried on by his daughter for nearly a century, shows how the generation shaped by that war left its mark on Texas communities well into the twentieth century.
And the house is a reminder of how fragile early buildings are. Plenty of frontier homes were lost to fire, neglect, or growth. This one survived, relocation and all, and that is why it can still tell its story.
If you visit
When you visit, look for the bones of the dog-run plan: the central entry hall that ties the two sides of the house together. Picture it as a breezy frontier home, and then picture it as the family residence it remained for nearly a century. Think about those windows too. Once, they were a novelty in the county.
Remember that the house has been moved from its original site in Sherman, so its present setting is not the landscape Dr. Bullock knew. Check locally for access and viewing information, and be respectful of the property.
Denison and Sherman sit close together in Grayson County, making it easy to explore both. Denison grew up as a railroad town in the early 1870s and is well known as the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower. A drive through the county lets you trace North Texas history from frontier homes like this one to railroad-era growth.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Dr. R. L. Bullock
- · Col. T. C. Bass
- · Nettie Bass
Themes & tags
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