Since next Sunday is Mother’s Day, I have a suggestion for something different to do this year. The Texas Historical Commission is offering free admission to the twenty state historic sites that day. Three of them are in North Texas. All would make a fun outing for the whole family. And even if you can’t make it for Mother’s Day, all are fun to visit anytime.
Docent shows children how Mrs. Eisenhower and other women cooked in the 1890s.
One is the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site in Denison. President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (1890-1969) was born in a small house there. His father worked for the railroad, probably the Katy, and shortly after Ike’s birth the family moved to Kansas where Ike grew up. Many years ago we ventured up there while our son was working on a Cub Scout badge. I distinctively remember the kitchen being small but seemingly very efficient. It’s a great place to see how most people lived in that day and age.
Usually historic homes are grand affairs that were maintained first by the family, then the community before being transferred to the Texas Historical Commission. The remaining two homes fall into this category. Both have undergone recent renovation to stabilize them but still contain original furnishings.
Mr. Sam’s 1947 Cadillac in the garage.
The 1916 Sam Rayburn Home is located on a 121-acre farm west of Bonham. Sam Rayburn (1882-1961) or “Mr. Sam” as he was known in North Texas served in the United States House of Representatives for 48 years. During that time, he served as Speaker of the House and third in line for the presidency from 1940 to his death in 1961. Rayburn is remembered for bringing his constituents into the 20th century with such amenities as electricity in rural areas. In 1935, when electricity was wired to his Bonham home, Mr. Sam paid for the light poles himself. All of the furnishings are original to the home, also occupied by Mr. Sam’s brother and sister and their families. In the garage is his 1947 Cadillac, a gift from US Congressmen that year.
Home of General Senator and Mrs. Sam Bell Maxey in Paris, Texas.
The third house museum is the grand Sam Bell Maxey (1825-1895) home in Paris. The High Victorian Italianate Style mansion was completed in 1868 for the attorney, West Point graduate, Mexican War veteran, Confederate General from Texas, and a two-term United States Senator from Texas. In fact, with all those titles, Maxey was referred to as General Senator Maxey. His wife went so far as to be known as Mrs. General Senator Sam Bell Maxey. Shortly after the Civil War, General Maxey called a meeting of prominent North Texas men to agree that the war was over, and that all citizens should be urged to accept and obey the laws of the United States. Unfortunately, the meeting did not successfully convince North Texans, or Texans anywhere, that the supreme law of the land was United States law. It would take a long time for such ideas to sink into the minds of many former Confederates.
For more information call 512-463-7948 or visit www.texashistoricsites.com.