Salado Historic Sites 2

   Built by Moses H. Denman in 1867. Originally built in Sparta, 15 miles NW of Salado. In 1955, it was restored at Belton, moved to Troy, then to Salado. The Robert Denman family donated the cabin to the Salado Historical Society. The cabin is constructed of hand hewn square cedar logs joined by wooden pegs. The fireplace is of native stone. It is furnished as it would appear in frontier times but not original to the cabin. (RTHL)

    Boles-Aiken Log Cabin is two rooms built in the 1850s. It was discovered inside an old home in Salado in March 1986 when it was being torn down.  It was dismantled and stored for 4 years until 1990, when the Salado Historical Society re-constructed it on the present site and restored it to its present condition. Much of the original materials of the cabin was saved and used in the reconstructed cabin, the flooring, chimney and fireplace, logs and rock foundation. An archeological excavation revealed artifacts from the 1840s into the late 1950s.   Records show tax was paid on the cabin in 1851 when it was on a stagecoach route that carried mail from Austin to Waco.  The house built around the two room log cabin was occupied until 1984.  The cabin is named for its first two owners Benjamin Boles and Hermon Aiken. (SHSL) 

    The Capt. Halley House was built ca.1860, for his wife and eight children. It is built of  wood-frame construction and exhibits Greek Revival symmetry and proportions. As of this writing it is undergoing restoration. ( RTHL, NRHP)

  The W.R. Berry home was built in 1870 by J.W. Vickrey out of cut rock blocks, the walls being 20 inches thick. It was two stories high. At the turn of the century the rock on three quarters of the house, but not the foundation, was removed to be used on some of Mr. Berry’s buildings, the most notable being the Salado Bank, which was built exclusively with rock from the W.R. Berry residence. The remaining rock walls were extended to the one story cypress house now in use.  Location: Main Street. The house is now a gift & decor shop. 

( RTHL ) 

    Vickrey-Berry Carriage Barn and house were built about 1870 by John W. Vickrey.  Eighteen years later William M. Berry purchased the two story rock house and barn.  Between the house and barn was a windmill and raised water tank.  In later years the barn was referred to as a carriage house for good reason.  It was upscale compared to the average outbuilding of its day and has large double doors to accommodate Mr. Berry’s hearse.  The carriage house was not used as a funeral home as rumor had it.  Mr. Berry sold caskets from the second story of in his mercantile store across Salado Creek. (SHSL)  

 The Fowler House is located on the northern fringes of Salado. Josiah Fowler built it in 1872. It is in the Greek Revival style with its symmetry and proportions in the two-story front. The existing single-story portico with pediment suggest that it is not original, but had an earlier portico where the present one is located.  Mr. Fowler was an educator who coauthored a widely used textbook titled “Fowler’s Arithmetic.” (RTHL ,NRHP)

    Built in the early 1900s and moved to its current location about 1920, this house is a good example of a Texas farmhouse.  Two Hamblen daughters lived in the house with their husbands.  Emma Hamblen married Gus White, who built the house.  Anna Hamblen and her husband Carl Aiken, as well as Anna’s mother, the widowed Alice Hamblen, also lived there for many years.  (NRHP)

  West Salado Cemetery was designated a Texas State Historic Cemetery in 1990. The cemetery is located in an area populated by the Blacks residents of Salado following the Civil War. The cemetery dates to the 1870s. The earliest documented grave is that of Josie Fulbright, who died in 1877, although according to local oral history there may be earlier unmarked burials. E. S. C. Robertson’s widow deeded the land for church, school, and graveyard purposes. While the community’s school and two churches are no longer in existence, the cemetery remains an important link with the area’s early black history. (THC) 

  The plantation of Col. Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson is outstanding among the architectural sites. This residence is one of the best ex  The plantation of Col. Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson is outstanding among the architectural sites. This residence is one of the best examples of the Greek Revival architecture style as interpreted in Texas. The house has 22 rooms and includes a "strangers' room" in one of the end pavilions, to allow travelers to lodge at his home without bothering his family.  The house and buildings remain intact through seven generations of the Robertson family. It forms one of the best-preserved complexes from the plantation era.  Included in the property are the servants' quarters, a stone/wood barn, and the family cemetery where Col. Robertson is buried. ( RTHL, NRHP)  samples of the Greek Revival architecture style as interpreted in Texas. The house has 22 rooms and includes a "strangers' room" in one of the end pavilions, to allow travelers to lodge at his home without bothering his family.  The house and buildings remain intact through seven generations of the Robertson family. It forms one of the best-preserved complexes from the plantation era.  Included in the property are the servants' quarters, a stone/wood barn, and the family cemetery where Col. Robertson is buried. ( RTHL, NRHP)