The Davison Home
Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas
Marker Inscription
County's first prefabricated house. Built 1887-88 by R.A. Corry. Parts were shipped from St. Louis. Hand-carved wainscot, staircase, mantels. Wood is cypress. Original doors and hardware are still in use. In family of C.H. Davison since 1889. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Montgomery County's first prefabricated house rose in 1887–88, its parts shipped down from St. Louis and assembled by builder R. A. Corry. Fashioned largely of durable cypress, it kept hand-carved wainscot, a staircase, mantels, and original doors and hardware in use for generations. It has remained in the Davison family since 1889.
Why it matters
It reflects the late-nineteenth-century rise of manufactured, mail-order building components that reshaped how ordinary Americans built their homes.
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Related people
- · R.A. Corry
- · C.H. Davison
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Montgomery County was the third county created by the Republic of Texas, established by act of Congress on December 14, 1837, in response to a settlers' petition, and its sprawling original boundaries later gave rise to several neighboring counties. The town of Montgomery served as the first seat, where log cabins and a wood building housed county government until 1889, when an election moved the seat to Conroe. A brick courthouse rose here in 1891, and the present Art Deco building was completed in 1936 amid the prosperity of the Conroe oil boom, later expanded as the county grew.
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