Pleasant Grove
Howland, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1857 by settler from Kentucky, Jas. Shelby (Sheb) Williams, and wife Mary. Lumber was dressed on site. Sills and studs, hand-hewn of heart oak, where joined with bois d'arc pegs. Porch steps and heath are of native stone, quarried nearby Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This home was raised in 1857 by James Shelby "Sheb" Williams, a settler newly arrived from Kentucky, and his wife Mary. Its builders dressed the lumber on site and hand-hewed sills and studs from heart oak, pegging the frame together with bois d'arc — a hard native wood — while the porch steps and hearth were cut from stone quarried nearby. It survives as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark of antebellum frontier craftsmanship.
Why it matters
Houses built entirely from the land around them show how self-reliant frontier families created permanence out of whatever the local woods and quarries offered.
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Related people
- · James Shelby Williams
- · Mary Williams
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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