Waddill-Morris Homesite

The house on the lot is not the first one. A Texas Historic Sites Inventory form prepared for McKinney's National Register nominations believes the surviving one-and-a-half-story center-passage house dates from the late 1870s. Sanborn maps show it faced east onto Church Street until it was turned between 1902 and 1908 to face south onto Lamar, and that it was remodeled between 1914 and 1920. It has weatherboard siding and a five-bay porch with Doric columns. The form, dated 1987, says the house was still owned by Waddill's descendants and calls its changes part of its significance.

What the plaque says

Waddill-Morris Homesite Kentucky native Judge R.L. Waddill (1811-1865) came to McKinney with his stepson, George Shackelford Morris, in 1853, five years after the town had been established as the Collin county seat. The two men bought large tracts of land in town, built a home, and then brought the remainder of the family to settle in McKinney. The family included Judge Waddill's wife, Sarah, and their children R.L., Joe, Ben, Gaston, and Fannie. During the late 1850s, Judge Waddill made a major contribution to the field of education in McKinney by erecting a schoolhouse in his backyard and hiring a teacher from Bethany College in West Virginia to teach the children in the area. Waddill had a law practice in town and served as district judge, riding his circuit on horseback, from 1860 until his death in 1865. This home was constructed for the Waddill-Morris family after a fire destroyed their original house. George S. Morris, who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War and later studied law, served as a deputy county clerk in McKinney and as administrator of the Waddill-Morris Estate. This house has remained in the family for more than one hundred years. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 2.9 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.
• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 21 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.

More markers nearby

• Collin County — 0.2 mi
• The Birthplace of Rebekah Baines Johnson — 0.6 mi
• Site of Muse Academy — 0.7 mi
• Old Settlers Park — 0.8 mi