HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Wells Home

Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Federal period ranch home of 15 rooms. Built in 1885 of long leaf pine lumber brought by Gulf steamers from Florida. Hauled from Indianola by oxcarts. Furnished in Guadalupe River valley walnut pieces hand-crafted in Republic of Texas. Home since 1889 of the James B. Wells family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This fifteen-room ranch home was built in 1885 from long-leaf pine shipped by Gulf steamer from Florida and hauled inland from Indianola by oxcart. It was furnished with walnut pieces hand-crafted in the Guadalupe River valley back in the days of the Republic of Texas. Since 1889 it has been the home of the James B. Wells family, and it carries a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation.

Why it matters

The house testifies to the ambition and long supply lines of Gilded Age Texas ranching families, who imported fine lumber across the Gulf to build on the open range.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · James B. Wells

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryHome

Nearby & related markers

J. W. and Nannie C. Bailey House

Gonzales, TX

J. W. Bailey built this modest Queen Anne–style residence in 1897–98 for his wife Nannie and their family in Gonzales. With its gable roof, tapered porch posts on brick piers, double- and triple-hung wood windows, and long-leaf pine woodwork, the house is a well-preserved example of turn-of-the-century Texas domestic architecture. It passed to the Baileys' daughter and remained in the family until 1948.

Episcopal Church of the Messiah

Gonzales, TX

Growing out of early missionary work, the Episcopal Church of the Messiah was organized in Gonzales in 1855, and by 1881 its congregation had completed a Gothic Revival sanctuary on land granted by the city. A native stone bell tower replaced the original wooden belfry in 1928, and the interior still features walnut woodwork cut from trees along the Guadalupe River.

Kennard House

Gonzales, TX

James B. and Anna Jones Kennard built this Queen Anne–style house in 1895, and it remained in the Kennard family until 1963. Its ornate lines reflect the exuberant Victorian architecture that prosperous Texans favored at the close of the nineteenth century. Recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1967, it was carefully restored in the mid-1960s.

Route of Gen. Sam Houston to San Jacinto

Gonzales, TX

In March 1836, reeling from news that the Alamo had fallen and facing an advancing Mexican army, Sam Houston assembled the core of his Texan force at Gonzales. On March 13 he ordered the town burned to deny it to the enemy and began the long eastward retreat later called the Runaway Scrape. Six weeks later, on April 21, that army won independence at the Battle of San Jacinto.