Rogers-Craig House
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Rogers-Craig house was built around 1890 on land that was formerly the site of the Fowler Institute. The house was originally a four-room, one story frame structure owned by Anna Caroline Montgomery Rogers, the widow of James T. Rogers, a sheriff who lost his life apprehending a criminal. Oil boom prosperity encouraged remodeling, and in 1935, owner Judge R.M. Leath and his wife, Alma, added a second story, bricked exterior and created the Dutch Revival style that is present today. Salah Craig and his wife, Elizabeth, purchased the home in 1958 and a library was added. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2012
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Anna Caroline Montgomery Rogers, widow of a sheriff killed in the line of duty, built a modest four-room frame house here around 1890 on ground that had once held the Fowler Institute. When East Texas oil money flowed in the 1930s, Judge R.M. Leath and his wife Alma reshaped it in 1935 into the brick, second-story Dutch Revival home that stands today. A later owner added a library, layering three generations of taste onto one dwelling.
Why it matters
The house records how an oil boom rewrote the look and fortunes of a small Texas town, turning a pioneer widow's cottage into a symbol of new prosperity.
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Related people
- · Anna Caroline Montgomery Rogers
- · James T. Rogers
- · Judge R.M. Leath
- · Salah Craig
Themes & tags
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