The Gann House
Hudson, Angelina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early Texas double log cabin built of interlocking hewn pine logs. Originally had a "dog trot" (open center hall). Erected before 1860 by John D. Gann, first district clerk of Angelina County. Sold to W. H. Bonner in 1864. Remodeled in 1955 by L. F. Bonner, owner. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Gann House is a classic early Texas double log cabin, its interlocking hewn pine logs once separated by an open "dog trot" hall that caught the breeze. Built before 1860 by John D. Gann, the first district clerk of Angelina County, it passed to the Bonner family in 1864 and was remodeled nearly a century later. It survives as a reminder of how the East Texas frontier was first housed.
Why it matters
The cabin preserves the vernacular log architecture and dog-trot form that sheltered the earliest settlers of the Texas frontier.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John D. Gann
- · W. H. Bonner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
McCarty Cemetery
Angelina County, TX
In 1860 Orange McCarty and his wife Mary Arrington bought a large tract in Angelina County, but their planned move from Mississippi stalled when the Civil War erupted and two of their sons died fighting for the Confederacy. The surviving family, joined by the Arringtons and McCalls, finally settled here in 1866 and built a log cabin above Jack Creek, setting aside this acre for burials that were in use by 1873. It endures as the resting place of a founding Angelina County pioneer family.
North Cedar Community
Groveton vicinity, TX
North Cedar Community took root in 1856 as pioneers like Abner Womack and the Burke family carved farms from the East Texas woods—some reportedly sleeping in tree houses for fear of animals while their cabins were built by enslaved laborers. After the Civil War it became a small enclave of Confederate supporters, many fleeing the ruined states of the Deep South, and slowly gained a church, a cemetery, and Womack School. Lumber companies, then the Civilian Conservation Corps, shaped its later years, but by the twenty-first century only a few scattered houses remained.
Ryan Chapel
Diboll vicinity, TX
Ryan Chapel grew from an 1866 Methodist revival held by newcomer Rev. Isaac Ryan in his own home; his brother John was among the 19 charter members. L. H. D. and Sallie Guinn donated 7.5 acres for a church and cemetery, and the first 16-by-20-foot sanctuary had rough puncheon seats and floor. Its first pastor, Rev. Henry Wright, was paid in bacon, corn, and syrup.
Burke Methodist Church
Burke, TX
Burke Methodist Church was founded in 1889 by a small band of Methodists and quickly became a center of community life. H. and Nannie Belote donated land in 1894, and the first sanctuary was finished in 1901, later moved, remodeled, and eventually replaced by a brick church and educational building in 1957. Through worship, education, and outreach, the congregation has served the town of Burke for well over a century.