The Robert Tod Robinson House
Point Blank, San Jacinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Adjacent to property of Governor George T. Wood, and on high ground near juncture of waterways and land trails important in early Texas, this was originally a log house with wide front verandas on the two floors. It was built in 1857 by Point Blank planter Robert Tod Robinson (1826-1878), copying style from his native state of Alabama. He brought up a large family; his descendants include soldiers, statesmen, and civic leaders. The log house was covered with siding in 1919, and facade was modified in 1970s. A descendant owns and preserves it. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1975
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Robert Tod Robinson, a planter who came to Texas from Alabama, built this house in 1857 on high ground near the meeting of waterways and land trails, close to the property of Governor George T. Wood. He raised a large family here in a log home fronted by wide double verandas in the style of his native state. Siding covered the logs in 1919 and the facade was altered in the 1970s, but a descendant still owns and preserves it.
Why it matters
The house embodies the antebellum migration that carried Deep South planters and their architecture into early Texas.
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Related people
- · Robert Tod Robinson
- · George T. Wood
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
George Tyler Wood
Point Blank, TX
Born in Georgia in 1795, George Tyler Wood came to serve the young Texas nation, sitting in the Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1841–42 before winning the governorship of the new state in 1847. He led Texas through its early statehood years and rests here beneath the simple epitaph, "Here sleeps a just man."
Near Burial Place of Governor George Tyler Wood
Point Blank, TX
Born in Georgia in 1795, George Tyler Wood came to Texas in 1839 and rose through the Republic's Congress, the 1845 Annexation Convention, and the first state Senate, which he left to fight in the Mexican War. As governor from 1847 to 1849 he rallied defenses against frontier raids, urged public schools and land sales to pay the state debt, and had Texas's laws codified, its library founded, and its penitentiary built. He is buried near here.
Mount Zion Cemetery
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This burial ground grew from an 1849 land grant, when John R. Johnson deeded acreage to Mount Zion Methodist Church in 1850 on the edge of the East Texas piney woods. The frame church fell into ruin and was taken down in 1928, but the cemetery endured as the last tangible trace of several pioneer settlements. In 1958 descendants of those families began an annual homecoming among its roughly 250 graves.
Isaac Jones
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