Old Storey Home
San Marcos, Hays County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected by James Gray Storey (1830-1911), noted citizen of Hays County. He served as district clerk 1856-61; captain Co. A, 32nd Texas Cavalry, Civil War; county judge 1865-67; member of State Legislature 1880-83; was county clerk when he and wife Sarah built house, 1890. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Gray Storey (1830–1911) was one of Hays County's most active public servants, serving as district clerk, county judge, and state legislator, and commanding Company A of the 32nd Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. He was county clerk in 1890 when he and his wife Sarah built this home. The house was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1970.
Why it matters
It preserves the residence of a citizen-soldier and officeholder whose life spanned the Republic era, the Civil War, and the rebuilding of Texas that followed.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Hays County, in the Texas Hill Country on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment, was a young county in the 1850s. San Marcos grew up near the springs that feed the San Marcos River, a reliable source of water that drew settlers, farmers and ranchers to the area.
The decades of James Gray Storey's public life were some of the most turbulent in Texas history. In 1861 Texas seceded and joined the Confederacy, and men from counties like Hays went off to fight. The war's end in 1865 brought Reconstruction, years of upheaval as Texas was reshaped under federal oversight, with emancipation transforming the lives of formerly enslaved Texans and local governments repeatedly reorganized.
By 1890, when the Storeys built this house, Texas had moved into a new era. Railroads had reached much of the state, towns were growing, and San Marcos was becoming a settled county seat with established families and institutions.
People & events
James Gray Storey, born in 1830, built a life of public service in Hays County. He served as district clerk from 1856 to 1861, the kind of steady, record-keeping office that holds a county's legal life together.
When the Civil War came, he served as captain of Company A of the 32nd Texas Cavalry, a Confederate regiment. As a company captain he would have been responsible for the men under him, many of whom likely came from the same community he served as a clerk.
After the war he returned to local leadership, serving as county judge from 1865 to 1867, during the uncertain early years of Reconstruction. Later he represented the area in the State Legislature from 1880 to 1883. In 1890, while serving as county clerk, he and his wife Sarah built this house. He lived until 1911, and his long life stretched from the years before the war into the twentieth century. The house was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1970.
Its place in the American story
Storey's career traces the arc of nineteenth-century Texas, and of the South more broadly: the ordinary business of county government before the war, Confederate service, the turmoil of Reconstruction and a return to public office in the decades that followed. Following a single person through all of those stages makes the national story feel personal.
His repeated service in county offices also says something about how American communities actually worked. Clerks and county judges kept land records, courts and public affairs running, and in a frontier-era county those offices were the main face of government most people saw.
The house itself, built in 1890, belongs to the later Gilded Age, when prosperous families across the country built substantial homes as signs of stability and standing. It is a reminder that the people who lived through the Civil War went on to shape the towns that came after it.
If you visit
Look at the house as a document of 1890: its form and materials reflect what a respected county official and his family considered a fitting home in a growing Texas town. Think about the long life Storey had already lived by the time it was built, from his early days as district clerk through war and Reconstruction.
This marker designates a historic home, so it may be a private residence. Enjoy it from the street and respect the privacy of anyone living there.
San Marcos is an easy and pleasant stop between Austin and San Antonio. Pair this marker with a walk near the springs and the river that made the town possible, and with the historic buildings around the courthouse square, to get a feel for the community Storey served for most of his life.
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
- · James Gray Storey
- · Sarah Storey
Themes & tags
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