Winniford House
Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Kentucky native William Johnson Winniford (1827 - 1915) came to Texas as a Peters Colonist in 1845. A participant in California's Gold Rush, he returned and homesteaded 320 acres here in 1853. He married Sarah Allen Lewis in 1865. Their son, John L. (1870 - 1946) and his wife Emma L. Batchler (1875 - 1973), built this house in 1913, reared 4 children and raised corn, cattle, and cotton. Designed by John's brother, Andrew, the prairie school style house features a foursquare plan with large hipped roof, dormers, and distinctive multi-light windows. The house and farm complex remain in the Winniford family. RTHL 0 1994 Restored by Winniford Morton and Harry Lewis in 1978
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kentucky native William Johnson Winniford came to Texas as a Peters Colonist in 1845, tried his luck in the California Gold Rush, then returned to homestead 320 acres here in 1853. His son John and daughter-in-law Emma built this Prairie School–style farmhouse in 1913, raising four children and farming corn, cattle, and cotton. Designed by John's brother Andrew, the foursquare home with its hipped roof and multi-light windows still belongs to the Winniford family.
Why it matters
The house records three generations of one family's climb from frontier homestead to established farm, and preserves a rural Texas example of the Prairie School architecture usually associated with Midwestern cities.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · William Johnson Winniford
- · John L. Winniford
- · Emma L. Batchler Winniford
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Edgewood Cemetery
Lancaster, TX
Edgewood Cemetery grew organically from the graves of North Texas pioneers, beginning with a child, Lizzie Richardson, laid to rest in the summer of 1845 as the Republic of Texas was about to join the Union. Early settler Roderick Rawlins chose the ground and was buried here in 1848, and it holds a veteran of the American Revolution who died on the Fourth of July, 1858. Not formally dedicated as a cemetery until 1877, it now shelters more than 1,500 graves under the care of a local association.
Rawlins Homestead
Lancaster, TX
The Rawlins family settled this stretch of Dallas County in 1845, and in 1855 Roderick A. Rawlins — who had married his teacher, Virginia Bledsoe, daughter of Lancaster's founder — began building here. After serving as a Confederate officer during the Civil War, Captain Rawlins rebuilt his home in the fashionable Greek Revival style. Standing halfway between Dallas and Waxahachie, the house became a welcome stop where travelers drew water and camped by the well.
W. A. Strain Home
Lancaster, TX
This ornate frame Victorian was built in 1895–96 for W. A. and Minnie Strain, whose pioneer family had bought the Lancaster property back in 1846. Its fishscale shingling and elaborate porch trim were the work of noted Dallas architect James E. Flanders of the Flanders-Moad firm. The Strains' son later raised his own family of four daughters in the house, keeping it in the family across generations.
First United Methodist Church of Lancaster
Lancaster, TX
Organized on May 25, 1868, by the Rev. Andrew Davis, this is among the oldest churches in North Texas, its early members worshiping in the Masonic Hall until a building rose in 1874. That first sanctuary reflected Victorian custom with separate entrances and seating for men and women. A larger church followed in 1911, and the present sanctuary, built in 1957, stands on the site of the original.