Built in 1849 by Judge Alexander E. McClure (1815 - 1870), who came from Tennessee to Texas in 1840 and lived for a number of years at Old Fort Houston. Judge McClure was the first district clerk in Anderson County, co-owner of the "Trinity Advocate," and one of the most prominent lawyers in East Texas. The house was purchased from the McClures in 1884 by Zachariah Aycock McReynolds (1846 - 1928), who immigrated to Texas in 1875 from Adairsville, Georgia. He was a Confederate veteran who had fought in the sieges at Vicksburg and Atlanta in the Civil War, 1861-1865. About 1890 the house was remodeled using the old timber, including well preserved hand-hewn sills. From 1880 to 1908, Z. A. McReynolds held the offices of district clerk, county clerk, county judge, tax collector, and postmaster. In 1934 Colonel Godfrey Rees Fowler (1876 - 1958) and his wife Ella Sue (McReynolds) returned to Palestine to retire to her old family home. Colonel Fowler was a grandson of Judge John H. Reagan (first Texas Railroad Commission chairman). Fowler had fought in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine insurrection, the Nicaraguan uprising, and World War I. The McClures and McReynoldses have been the only property owners since 1848. (1970)
Getting there
31.7686, -95.6261
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
