Robert H. and Pauline Clark House
Victoria, Victoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pennsylvania native Robert Clark (1818-1910) moved to Mississippi as a young man. A veteran of the Mexican War, in which he was severely wounded, he later moved to Brownsville and entered into a successful partnership with Charles Stillman. The two men eventually opened a cannery in Indianola (40 mi. SE). In 1870, Clark wed Pauline Shirkey Crocker (1846-1940). After a hurricane hit Indianola in 1875, he moved his family to Victoria, where he continued to prosper as a cattle buyer and seller. In 1877, he built this frame Greek Revival house with central portico and boxed columns. Robert and Pauline Clark, remembered for civic contributions, are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Robert Clark, a Pennsylvania native and Mexican War veteran who was severely wounded in that conflict, built his fortune in South Texas as a merchant and cattle trader in partnership with Charles Stillman. After an 1875 hurricane battered the port of Indianola, he moved his family inland to Victoria, where in 1877 he raised this frame Greek Revival house with its central portico and boxed columns. He and his wife Pauline are remembered for their civic contributions to the growing town.
Why it matters
The house survives as a graceful reminder of the coastal Texas merchants who relocated inland after Indianola's storms, carrying their prosperity to interior towns like Victoria.
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Related people
- · Robert H. Clark
- · Pauline Shirkey Crocker Clark
- · Charles Stillman
Related events
- · Mexican-American War
- · 1875 Indianola hurricane
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Alexander Lowe House
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Built in 1883, this Victoria home belonged to Alexander Lowe — a veteran of the Mexican War who went on to serve as mayor and to work as a businessman and wheelwright. He was also a pioneer in refrigerated shipping, an innovation that transformed how perishable goods moved to distant markets.
John Howland Wood
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New York–born John Howland Wood came to Texas in 1836, fought in the Texas Revolution, and served as an army quartermaster at Victoria before settling on a ranch at Black Point (today Bayside) in the 1840s. He sold beef to the U.S. Army as Gen. Zachary Taylor's forces massed at Corpus Christi on the eve of the Mexican-American War, later captained coastal-defense patrols during the Civil War, and helped develop the town of Rockport.
Viola Case
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Viola Case came to Victoria in 1848 to teach at the Female Academy founded by her first husband, and when he died she kept the school going — as she did again after outliving a second husband in 1868. By 1870 "Mrs. Case's Select School" was coeducational and widely respected, and she led it until her death in 1894. She also founded a literary society whose book collection grew into the town's public library.
Abraham Levi House
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