Henderson House

Victorians moved their buildings, and this house belongs to that habit. The Hendersons had Dr. J. B. Ragland's house moved off the lot in 1909 to build this one. Their contractor, Fred Urban, did the reverse in 1920 when he took apart the Denver Hotel and rebuilt it on North Wheeler Street for a railroad engineer. Casino Hall was moved in 1875, moved again and finally split into three in 1909. The Stapp Hotel, built as a school in 1858, was cut in two and hauled to South De Leon Street in 1901.

What the plaque says

Henderson House A native of Arkansas, John W. Henderson (1864-1947) became a prominent local businessman through his insurance company and his interests in ranching, farming and real estate. In 1909 he and his wife Minna Catherine (James) purchased this property. After moving the home of Dr. J.B. Ragland, which was located here, they had this Classical Revival residence constructed. Designed by Sam H. Dixon, it was built by Fred Urban. In 1926 it was sold to auto dealer and civic leader W.E. Franz, who died in 1939. His widow Bessie continued to live here until 1953. (1982)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• De León Plaza — 0.3 mi
  The central plaza of Guadalupe Victoria, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, founded by Martín De León in 1824 and taken from his family after 1836.
• Museum of the Coastal Bend — 1.7 mi
  Victoria College's museum of thirteen thousand years on the middle Texas coast, from Clovis hunters and Karankawa potters to La Salle's lost Fort St. Louis and the first ranches.
• Fannin Battleground State Historic Site — 16 mi
  The open prairie east of Goliad where Fannin's retreating column formed a square short of the Coleto Creek timber on March 19, 1836, and surrendered the next day.
• Fannin Memorial Monument — 25 mi
  The 1938 pink granite memorial over the common grave of Fannin's men, shot on the roads out of Goliad on Palm Sunday 1836, the grave itself found again only in the 1930s.

More markers nearby

• First United Methodist Church of Victoria — steps away
• Home County of William Pinckney McLean — 0.2 mi
• First English Evangelical Lutheran Church — 0.2 mi
• Victoria County Honor Roll — 0.2 mi