Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site

Sam Rayburn won a seat in the Texas House in 1906 at age 24 and was first elected to the U.S. House in 1912. He served 48 years there, 17 of them as Speaker. In 1914 he and his brother Tom paid $6,000 for 121 acres about two miles west of Bonham, and by 1916 they had finished a two-story clapboard house on it. The well was dug too far from the house, so there was no running water until a new well and windmill went in during 1917.

His parents, Tom and his sister Lucinda moved in soon after it was built. Rayburn paid the electric company to run power lines to the house in 1935 and added rooms and porches over the years. He came home from Washington to rest and to work the farm and a nearby 900-acre ranch, and his favorite room was the sitting room, which he used as an office.

He left the house, land and belongings to the Sam Rayburn Foundation, which deeded the home to the State of Texas in 1972; it opened as a museum in 1975. The site presents the rooms as they were when he lived here, with original furnishings, photographs and personal belongings. Vehicles on display include a Cadillac and a tractor, and Rayburn's 1947 Cadillac was bought with donations from 142 congressmen. The house is a National Historic Landmark. Tours start at the top of each hour.