Siddons-Barnes Log Cabin
Chico, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This log cabin, believed to have been built in the early 1870s, was the first place of worship for area Methodists and served as a schoolhouse. Dr. J. A. Siddons and his wife M. E. Siddons purchased the cabin in 1883 and enclosed it with other rooms. In 1918 J. D. Barnes and Rachel Perkins Barnes bought the property. The rooms surrounding the original log cabin were removed in the 1970s. It was moved to this site in 1987, and the fireplace stones were restored. The cabin features half-notched rough hewn oak logs, an interior loft, and measures 256 square feet. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Believed to have been raised in the early 1870s, this small oak-log cabin served area Methodists as their first place of worship and doubled as a schoolhouse on the Wise County frontier. Dr. J. A. Siddons and his wife bought it in 1883 and built rooms around it, and the Barnes family took it over in 1918. Stripped back to its original half-notched logs and moved to this site in 1987, the 256-square-foot cabin survives as a relic of pioneer beginnings.
Why it matters
The single-room cabin that served at once as church and school is the quintessential first institution of frontier settlement, doing the work of a whole community under one roof.
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Related people
- · J. A. Siddons
- · J. D. Barnes
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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