Lovell-Dobbs House

Tom Lovell reached Brownwood by a long road: born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1852, he appears in the 1871 census as a farm servant, and the family emigrated in 1881. He later headed Tom Lovell & Sons, contractors and builders, and newspaper accounts credit the firm with courthouses in Denton, Brazoria, Hill, Runnels, Brown, Hamilton and McLennan counties, as well as post offices in Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma. He became a citizen in 1891 and died in Denton in 1911.

What the plaque says

Lovell-Dobbs House Tom Lovell (1852-1911), a native of Scotland, constructed this home for his family about 1889. A contractor, he also built various public structures, including the state capitol in Arizona, several central Texas courthouses, and the local St. John's Episcopal Church building. The Rev. Charles Holt Dobbs (d. 1920) purchased the two-story residence in 1902. He and his wife Elizabeth (1837-1921) served the rural area around Brownwood as traveling teachers and Presbyterian missionaries. Their daughters Anna and Bess later operated a kindergarten here for over thirty years. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 9.6 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Welcome William Chandler — steps away
• Greenleaf Fisk — steps away
• Coggin and Parks Building — steps away
• Camp Collier, C.S.A. — steps away