The Montgomery House
Columbus, Colorado County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Typical post-Civil War, L-shape Empire cottage, with handmade brick foundation, native oak sills, pine floors. Siding, doors, window shutters are of cypress. House was built about 1867 by land agent A. J. Gallilee; bought in 1876 by Fannie (Obenchain) and J.T. Montgomery, whose 5 children grew up here, giving place its traditional name. Sold 1919 to Walter and Ethel Glithero, it was bought in 1967 and restored by Arthur J. Willrodt. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built about 1867 by land agent A. J. Gallilee, this L-shaped Empire cottage is a study in local materials — handmade brick foundation, native oak sills, pine floors, and cypress siding, doors, and shutters. It took its lasting name from J. T. and Fannie Montgomery, who bought it in 1876 and raised five children there. Later owners preserved and restored the house, keeping a fine example of post-Civil War Texas domestic architecture intact.
Why it matters
The cottage documents the resettlement and rebuilding of Texas communities in the years just after the Civil War, told through one enduring family home.
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Related people
- · A. J. Gallilee
- · J. T. Montgomery
- · Fannie Montgomery
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First United Methodist Church of Columbus
Columbus, TX
One of the earliest Protestant congregations in Texas, this Methodist church traces its roots to Stephen F. Austin's original colony and built its first sanctuary near the Colorado River in 1848 on a lot sold for a single dollar. It moved and rebuilt as Columbus grew, raising a new church south of the railroad in 1873 and its present site's building in 1897. Its long list of early trustees reads like a roster of the town's founding families.
William Demetris Lacey
Columbus, TX
Born in Virginia and raised in Kentucky, William Demetris Lacey settled in what is now Columbus around 1831, opening a tanyard and saddle shop and marrying Sarah Ann Bright. Elected to office while Texas was still part of Mexico, he was chosen as a delegate to the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. After service in the Texas army he returned to find his home in ruins, resettling on land granted for his service before dying in Kentucky in 1848.
William B. DeWees
Columbus, TX
William B. DeWees came from Kentucky in 1822, when Texas was still part of Mexico, and received a land grant in 1824 as one of Stephen F. Austin's 'Old 300' colonists. He worked as a blacksmith and trader, and after Columbus burned during the 1836 revolution he laid out the present town and gave land for its courthouse and school. His published letters left rare eyewitness accounts of the 'Runaway Scrape' and life in colonial Texas.
Asa Townsend
Columbus, TX
Born in South Carolina and raised in Georgia, Asa Townsend moved his large family from Florida to Colorado County, Texas, in 1838. A civic leader, he served on the committee advocating Texas's 1845 annexation to the United States and belonged to the Colorado River Navigation Association. During Reconstruction he organized ventures into Mexico and remained active in the Methodist church and Masonic lodges.