The Parker County Heritage Society 24th Annual Candlelight Tour of Homes, December 10, 2005
Click on Images to Enlarge.

The Flinn-Jones-Bass Home
402 Garner Road

Evan Jones designed and built this lovely gingerbread house in 1885 for William Flinn and his wife Alice. The home’s five main gables and extensive gingerbread are representative of its construction period.

Mr. Flinn was a well-known bridge builder whose most noted construction was the bridge on North Main Street crossing Town Creek. The bridge was recorded as the widest in the world at the time.

This home originally sat on Second Street. Sisters Lillian and Mary Hannah Jones, daughters of the builder, bought the home about 1962, and had it moved it to its current location.

Lillian (1902-1987) dealt in antiques and Mary Hannah (1899-1987) taught at Travis Elementary School for over 50 years. Lillian added the North wing in order to house her antique shop. She used architectural parts from other Victorian houses being torn down in the area. They both lived in the home until their deaths.

The Basses have extensively furnished this fairy-tale house with antiques and period appointments. Included are a vast collection of metal lunch boxes, Victorian hats and clothing, along with antique toys and dolls. Also included are an 1880 square grand piano, an 1863 Half-Tester bed, a red dining room with a Blue Willow dish collection, and much more.

The Richards-Murphey–Moorman Home
405 West Lee Street

Only three owners in 100 years have occupied this large, transitional Victorian home built sometime prior to 1907 by Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Richards.  

Mr. Richards graduated from Auburn University and was a star quarterback on their football team. He came to Weatherford in the late 1890’s, where he brought the first football, and organized the first football and baseball teams in town. He married Eva Bunch in 1898. Eva was born in Kentucky but moved to Weatherford soon afterwards. She graduated from Tehuacana College and taught school here prior to her marriage.

The Robert E. Murphey family purchased the house in 1957 for the sum of $9,000. The Murphey's raised nine children in this home. They had the house remodeled in the 1980's in preparation for the daughter's wedding.  

Melissa and Thomas Moorman purchased the house in July 2003, and started a major rehabilitation. All of the electrical systems have been updated, central heat and air added, and the heart-of-pine floors refinished.  

The home has four working fireplaces, large pocket doors in the front living area, and a wrap around front porch. Designed around a large central foyer, the home boasts separate women's and men's parlors, a formal dining room, large kitchen, office, and another living area downstairs.

The Parker County Courthouse
One Courthouse Square

Parker County celebrates its Sesquicentennial this year on December 13 th. The County was created by act of the Legislature on that date in 1855, and is named for Representative Isaac Parker who sponsored the petition along with State Senator Jefferson Weatherford.

This elegant French Empire building was built in 1886 from limestone quarried in the County. It was designed by Wesley Clark Dodson of Waco who designed several other courthouses in Texas. French stonemasons, brothers Armand and Emile Laudes, who came to Weatherford from Ohio, fashioned the exterior stone design seen today. They built the courthouses in Palo Pinto and Kaufman counties as well as the First Methodist Church on South Main in Weatherford.

The building cost $55,555.55 with the contractor paying a $2,580 fine for being 129 days behind schedule. The cause of the delay was an apparent murder and an ensuing scandal between contractor partners.

The Seth Thomas clock was installed in 1897 at a cost of $975. Mechanisms were electrified in the 1960’s.

The building recently underwent extensive renovation. Interior designs and colors were determined from photographs and personal recollections.

The Confederate soldier on the Courthouse lawn was erected by the Sam Lanham Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy beginning with the base installed in 1915. Artisans hail the statue one of the most beautiful, detailed, and accurate of the many statues erected throughout the South following the Civil War. In addition to his uniform and rifle, the soldier carries a full complement of equipment including canteen, bayonet, belt, and cartridge box.

The Pythian Home
1825 Bankhead Highway

Weatherford was one of ten entities to submit bids to construct a home for Pythian widows and orphans. Other bidding entities included Brenham, Corpus Christi, Comanche, Corsicana, Dublin, Files Valley, Fort Worth, Palestine, and Bell County. Bids required detailed land and monetary incentives.

Largely through the efforts of local businessman James T. Cotton, himself an orphan, the Knights located the Home in Weatherford. Mr. Cotton served on the Board from its inception until 1912. Along with the popular attorney H. C. Shropshire, the two men chartered a special train to bring representatives from the Pythian Convention to the Weatherford site. Along with the economic incentives, representatives were impressed with the large number of citizens who came out in support of building the Home in Weatherford.

The Home began as a residence for orphans and widows. Its 110-plus acres housed large gardens, a dairy, orchards, and livestock. Production provided food to the residents, and sales provided income to help support the Home. In addition to furnishing sustenance to the residents, the work taught a trade to the younger residents.

At one time, the Home accommodated a school. Students came from the City and County as well as the Home. The school consolidated into the Weatherford Independent School District in the 1960’s.

Changing State laws and regulations eventually denied the Home of its self-sustaining capabilities. This, in turn, added significantly to its operating costs. Much of the current support now comes from the private sector in the form of goods and services.

The Edward and Nellie Neer Home
321 West Columbia Street

The origins of this home are somewhat obscure. The 1890 Parker County census records which would give a more definitive date were destroyed in a suspicious Courthouse fire that also destroyed evidence in an upcoming trial.

Stories indicate the home was built in 1889, apparently by Edward and Nellie Neer. In fact, a plat was filed with Parker County in 1890 indicating Mr. Neer owned all the properties along West Columbia and Davis Streets. One can surmise he was a man of some means to own this much property at age 19.

The 1900 census records do show the Neer’s living in the home with their 5-year old son, Edwin. The census taker notes that Mr. Neer was a druggist who came from Arkansas.

In 1904-1905, attorney D. M. Alexander and his wife Emma bought the home and lived here while renovating a larger residence a few blocks away. He was Parker County Judge from 1900-1904, and the district’s State Senator from 1907-1911.

The Hatcher ~ McGee Home
811 South Waco Street

“Victorian Homes” magazine featured this Pyramid Victorian home in their 1987 spring edition. John Crosby Freeman, feature writer for the magazine wrote, “The lacy spandrel cornices of both floors linking the tops of the porch columns provide tense drama, looking like they could break any minute. And why hasn’t the great pyramid spun between the corner rooms crushed the recessed, wrap-around verandah?” The back walls of the verandah as well as the spindled porch posts are main load bearing walls rising to the roof, at which point the sleeping porch ceiling joists are cantilevered.

Built in 1901 by Emmett and Ella Hatcher, this two story “Polly Pocket” house is typical of homes built at the turn of the last century. It includes wrap around porches, gingerbread trim, heart wood floors, bead board paneling, pocket doors and transoms between all of the rooms the downstairs. Built before air conditioning, its 13-foot ceilings provided natural cooling in Texas summers.

Emmett and his father, Jordan, were local dry goods merchants and owned a business on North Main Street. They offered the city’s first home delivery service. By 1910, Emmett had passed away and his family moved next door with Jordan and his wife Mollie. Shortly thereafter Tom and Annie Granstaff purchased the home and lived in it until the mid 1950’s. The home fell into disrepair and by the 1970’s was condemned and slated for destruction. The Large family salvaged the home and started restoration. During the mid 1980’s Larry and Gayla Ricks carried out major renovations. The current owners have continued to renovate and improve the property to maintain its original grandeur.