Anderson House

     Images below of the yellowed documents made with my iPhone are courtesy of the Museum of North Texas History and Archives.
     Upon opening the file about the Anderson House's historical marker, I glanced at several black and white 8 x 10 photographs of a run down structure. It appeared that at one time and long ago, the structure served as a sweet home. The photos showed various angles from outside, and included one of the inside showing a fireplace above which large water stains damaged the ceiling. Ouch.

Photo by Becky Chaney of Mrs. E. E. Clack, chairman of the Wichita County Historical Commission, 

and Miss Ronnie Riner, co-owner of the house, standing before the Anderson house in 1979.

     The first document showed correspondence from Andy Lee to Mrs. E. E. Clack, February 1980, indicating that the application for a nomination to the state historical and National Register had been rejected. Sigh.
     In addition, the letter said that their spokesman did not represent their side appropriately. The reason for the rejection by Truett Latimer (in a letter dated February 10, 1981), Executive Director of the Texas Historical Commission, was that "[ . . . ] neither the architectural nor historical significance were outstanding [ . . . ]," and that "[ . . . ] Mr Anderson's contributions seemed to be shared by other prominent local citizens [ . . . ]," and he went on to say that the house had no "[ . . . ] particular style, type, or method of construction."
      Such are the bumps that proponents of historic sites meet while attempting to gain a marker.
   

The Anderson House, 912 Burnet Street, Wichita Falls, Texas, 76301, January 29th, 2015.

Image by E B Hawley.

     Lissa Anderson, Director of Survey and Nominations, National Register Program for Texas, in a letter dated August 19, 1980, pointed out to Clack that the house is in "[ . . . ] poor condition [ . . . ]," and that it "[ . . . ] has been severely affected by the stucco addition and changes to the roof materials [ . . . ]," and that these additions "[ . . . ] detract from its image as a Victorian home." Anderson encourages Clack to nominate the house based on what appears to me a more generalized and simple reason: "[ . . . ] was obviously a very handsome structure in its day, and possesses local importance."

Lissa Anderson's letter, August 19, 1980.

     Another letter sent to Clack in August of 1980 acknowledges receipt by Latimer. It also shows that funds were deposited even though the request for the marker had not been accepted, and would be returned should the marker be rejected. Ultimately, by November of 1981, the Anderson House received the honor of a historical marker.

Truett Latimer's approval, finally.

    The house was built in 1907 by Mr and Mrs G D Anderson on the corner of Tenth and Burnett (912 Burnett). In 1979, it had become run down and ready for a restoration and by November 1981 it would showcase the home for its marker ceremony.
    Co-owners Andy Lee and Ronnie Riner, Texas Trinity Investments, renovated the home inspired by what they described as the San Francisco style, in that it employs several colors to accent the architecture. In her article of 21 November 1981, Wichita Falls Record News, Lois Luecke states that the colors include "chocolate brown, terra cotta [red], Alamo cream color and alabaster white. Old exterior stucco has been replaced with a smooth-finish stucco in the cream color." The house has thirteen-feet high ceilings, four fireplaces -- nice and warm -- and five stained glass windows which were also restored. The house is now an office building with a twenty-five car parking lot behind it.

Ceremony for the marker dedication, November 23rd, 1981, published in the Wichita Falls Record News.

Do you see the U.S. flag hanging to the right of the porch, near the two front columns? The marker is behind the flag, next to the front door of the building. Photo by Jim King. 

Image by E B Hawley.

The text on the marker reads:

THE ANDERSON HOUSE

THIS VICTORIAN RESIDENCE WITH

DISTINCTIVE SECOND FLOOR WINDOWS

WAS DESIGNED BY JOSEPH C. PATE. BUILT FOR

LOCAL BUSINESSMAN GUY DILLARD

ANDERSON AND HIS WIFE, IT WAS

COMPLETED IN 1907. A NOTED CIVIC

LEADER, MRS. ANDERSON ALSO SERVED

AS A COMMISSIONER FOR THE TEXAS

CENTENNIAL, 1936. OILMAN W. E. CONNORS

BOUGHT THE HOUSE IN 1918 AND LIVED

HERE UNTIL HIS DEATH 20 YEARS

LATER. BUILT OVERLOOKING THE CITY, IT

REFLECTS EARLIER PROMINENCE

OF THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD.

RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 1980

      The marker is located at 912 Burnet Street, 76301, installed on the wall at the entrance of the house.

Charlie Lee Coe

     "On February 6, 1923, Charley Lee Coe made a great sacrifice. Charley was an oil field driller and lived with his wife, Helen (Rosencranth), and three children in Newtown and then in Burkburnett. On the day we was to take his daughter to the Wichita County Fair, Coe saw a fire at a neighbor's house. Coe worked his way through the smoke-filled home and found Arnold and David Hahn (ages 3 and 1) trapped in a bedroom. A neighbor knocked out a door panel through which Arnold Hahn was saved. Flames then overtook the home and claimed the flives of Coe and David Hahn. In January 1924, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission established a pension for Coe's family and awarded him a posthumous Carnegie Gold Medal for his brave actions." (2012)

     Thanks to Becky Trammell, who moved toward the installation of this marker, the community may feel inspired by an action taken by a man who in 1923 attempted to save the lives of two children, losing his own. He was found dead huddling protectively over the second child he had gathered from a burning house. So brave was Charlie Lee Coe, that he was awarded the Carnegie Gold Medal. Trammell indicated that the award he received post-posthumously was the nineteenth and last of the gold medallions; thereafter they were awarded in silver; and now they are awarded in bronze.

Robert Palmer, president of the Wichita County Historical Commission, Pat Norriss, Terri Coe-Barner, Alexander Coe-Barner, and Bard Barner stand before the marker. 

Photos courtesy of the Museum of North Texas Museum and Archives and the Wichita County Historical Commission. 

Gorsline Fashion and Livery Stable

     Edgar Byron Gorsline moved from Indiana to Wichita Falls around 1889. He established the Gorsline Fashion and Livery Stable in 1892 and in 1917 sold his business to Judge A. H. Carrigan. It is known at the Archives that Gorsline grew up around horses, knew about them, and loved them. He lived on a pasture where the Kemp Center of the Arts now stands (formerly Kemp Public Library) where he traded horses. At the stable, he insisted that the horses be treated well. 

     Gorsline was a charter member of the local Elks Lodge and devoted to the Knights of the Pythias. What a great guy. 

     The Gorsline Fashion and Livery Stable was razed in 1908. In its place, a couple of buildings popped up, one of them built for the Lepold Clothing Company, located in the building with the finials and spheres, shown in the photo above by Lester Jones. 

      But was 711 Indiana the location where the original marker stood? I studied two photographs in the file. Both photographs showed the same marker, but the backgrounds were different. One showed the marker standing in front of a sign; the other, the marker stood in front of the parking garage next to the Museum. A little more reading gave me some information about the history behind the marker itself.

    Before restoration, the building was abandoned and the safety of the marker was in question. Also in question was the desire of the previous owners to place the marker in front of their property, history not-withstanding. Both reasons gave pause to the Commission about where to place the marker.

      I felt a tad confused for a while as I looked through the thick file of correspondence, documents, and articles about the marker. There were photos of Bill McGregor, Gorsline's grandson, at the unveiling of the marker; and then there were photos of the same marker with a different background being unveiled at a later date by Mayor Bill Altman. In the meantime, I saw it, with my own eyes, standing in front of the stylish building with the finials and spheres on the top. 

     I showed Lita a photograph of the marker where it stood when Mayor Bill Altman attended the unveiling. 

      "But I thought it was in front of Walgreens," she said. Then I showed her the other photo where I had glimpsed behind the marker letters that indicated part of the name Walgreens. 

     As it turns out, the original marker, installed in 1979, was installed at 720 Indiana, and then lost when the Walgreens was torn down to build a more modern building. 

     After buying a second marker and placing it on the same location, which is across the street from the original address of the stable, the new owners of the building requested to move it to the proper site, 711 Indiana, where it is today.

     The marker reads: Gorsline Fashion and Livery Stable   In 1889 Edgar B. Gorsline (1859 - 1933)

and his wife came to Wichita Falls from Indiana. For two years Gorsline operated a grocery and bakery. He opened the fashion livery stable at this site in 1892. Horses and rigs were rented and horses boarded. Carriages were sent to meet all trains and transportation for funerals was provided. Before the automobile era, the fashion livery stable furnished vital services for residents and visitors to Wichita Falls. Gorsline sold the stable in 1907 and the structure at this site was razed in 1908. (1979)

The Website

      On a day with temps hovering around freezing, I made my way to the Wichita Falls Country Club to attend the first meeting of the year. The Wichita County Historical Commission's current president, Robert, complimented us on our presence in temperatures that we are not accustomed to experiencing. He made our frozen toes and noses worthwhile with his show-and-tell of atlatl stones and spearheads found on his farm. I studied the pictures he provided us, promising myself that the next time I traipsed through the countryside I would pay more attention to where my boots stepped.
   
     During lunch, I sat next to Becky, who spoke about her wish to finish Louise's and Mary's books. My ears perked up when she added that a book about the county's historical markers was on her wish list. As she mentioned it, I thought, could I? Could I have the time to volunteer for the marker book project? I sat at the table chewing my lunch, kind of like a cow sitting on the prairie grass chewing her cud, pondering, mulling over the thought. (Cows do look pensive when they do that, and I felt that way, pensive, with each bite of steamed broccoli.) My ruminating led to the development of a site for the commission and the first step toward a book about the markers of the county.
   
     By the time the first week of our journey passed, Becky had sent by email several newsletters and other documents to upload to the newly-established web site, wichitacountyhistoricalcommission.org.
   
     One of the documents Becky sent me showed images of women in the history of Wichita County. The text asked, "Do you know who these women are?" I recognized too few, I confess.
     "Do we need to add a link or something that will tell the public the names of the women?" I asked Becky at our first meeting yesterday.
     "They can come to the Museum to find out!"
     "That's one way. So who are they?"
     "I'll show you. Follow me. They are all up in the ladies restroom."
     Ladies restroom? That's where you put them? In a restroom? I complained bitterly. Great women of history should not be in a restroom!
     "It's not a restroom," said Lita, "It's an anteroom."
     The exhibit of women in the history of Wichita County charmed me. I wanted to know more about each one. I learned about Virginia Claire, a pilot, and saw the ever-famous photograph of Jimmie Kolp waving from her airplane. Becky expressed her interest in adding to the exhibit in the anteroom.
     "You'll run out of wall space, I am sure!"
   
     Happy with the idea that the website would provide the public with information about each marker, access to past newsletters and their relevant articles and information about history, plus other documents of interest, we planned to present it to the commission at February's meeting. We spoke about taking a couple of iPads with us to show the members the site, and an itemized list of the cost for the commission, and that they would approve of it all.
   
     We felt the excitement of embarking on a worthwhile project.

     The map shows Wichita County and the locations of some of the historical markers, the territory upon which I will trek to find and photograph the markers. 

      Courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission's atlas.