Renfro-Clark House
Burleson, Johnson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Home of heirs of donor of the Burleson townsite. By providing land for the M.K.T. Railroad line, Henry C. Renfro (deceased 1885) won right to name town for his friend, Dr. Rufus Burleson, a pioneer preacher, president of Waco College (1861-86) and Baylor University (1851-61; 1886-97). This was the first house in the Clark addition, and was built in 1894 by Mrs. Henry C. Renfro and her only daughter, Margaret Annette Baker Clark.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Henry C. Renfro gave land for the M.K.T. Railroad line, he won the right to name the new town for his friend Dr. Rufus Burleson, a pioneer Baptist preacher and longtime president of Baylor University. Renfro's widow and daughter built this house in 1894 as the first home in the town's Clark addition. It stands as a reminder that a single landowner's deal with a railroad could conjure a whole community into being.
Why it matters
Across late-19th-century Texas, railroads dictated where towns rose and fell, and a well-placed land donation could put a settler's chosen name on the map for good.
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Related people
- · Henry C. Renfro
- · Rufus Burleson
- · Margaret Annette Baker Clark
Themes & tags
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