Traweek House
Matador, Motley County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dr. Albert Carroll Traweek, Sr. (1875-1959) and his wife Allie (Rainey)(1881-1963) came to Matador from Fort Worth soon after their marriage in 1897. Dr. Traweek began his medical practice, and the couple bought a small frame house. They eventually were the parents of six children. A prominent and respected physician, Dr. Traweek first traveled on horseback or by horse and buggy to visit his patients. He was known as the "Pneumonia Doctor" because of his success in treating people with that illness. He established a hospital and was the county's first public health officer. In 1915, after a previous dwelling on this site was destroyed by fire, construction began on this house. Designed by Dr. Traweek's uncle, noted West Texas builder Charles Stephens Oates, the house was completed in 1916 at a cost of $14,000. The two-story stuccoed masonry structure reflects a combination of architectural styles, exhibiting Italian renaissance, prairie and classical revival detailing. Among those who visited the Traweek home were Baldwin Parker (son of Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanche Indians) and many state and national officials. The home, which has remained in the Traweek family, received an official historical medallion in 1964 and is a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Dr. Albert Carroll Traweek and his wife Allie came to the West Texas town of Matador soon after their 1897 marriage, and he built a practice riding on horseback and by buggy to reach patients scattered across the county. Renowned as the 'Pneumonia Doctor,' he founded a hospital and served as the county's first public health officer. After fire destroyed an earlier dwelling, this two-story stuccoed home was completed in 1916 for $14,000, its blend of Italian Renaissance, Prairie, and Classical Revival styles designed by builder Charles Stephens Oates. Visitors over the years included Baldwin Parker, son of Comanche chief Quanah Parker.
Why it matters
The Traweek House embodies the reach of a frontier country doctor and the ambition of early West Texas towns that rose during the region's turn-of-the-century growth.
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Related people
- · Albert Carroll Traweek
- · Charles Stephens Oates
- · Quanah Parker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Motley County Jail
Matador, TX
This two-story stone jail went up in 1891, the very year Motley County was organized on the rolling plains of the Texas Panhandle, built by local contractors under the county's first judge and commissioners. Cells filled the upper floor while the jailer and his family lived below. The county's first courthouse, raised the same year, later burned, leaving the jail as one of the oldest surviving symbols of the county's frontier beginnings.
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Carved from earlier Young and Bexar territories, Motley County was created in 1876 and organized in 1891, with Matador as its seat. It honors Dr. Junius William Motley, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who served as an aide to General Rusk and was mortally wounded at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. The county's name misspells his—Motley for Mott—an error preserved in law.
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