Woodland is a historic house on the grounds of
Sam Houston State University in
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home ...
. Built in stages beginning about 1847, it was the residence of
Sam Houston from 1847 to 1859. The house is now part of
Sam Houston Memorial Museum
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictional ...
, and is a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Description and history
Woodland is the centerpiece of the museum property at the southeast corner of the Sam Houston State University Campus. It is a -story log structure, finished in wooden
clapboards
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
and covered by a gabled roof. It is a classic
dogtrot house
The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some theories place its origins in the southern Appalac ...
, with a central breezeway flanked by rectangular log chambers, with brick chimneys at the ends. A shed-roof porch extends in front of the breezeway, supported by square posts. The breezeway includes a winding staircase which provides access to loft spaces used as bedrooms.
The house was little more than a single-room log cabin when Sam Houston began enlarging it in 1847. In that year, he added the breezeway and second log structure. Later alterations improved the upper level, including construction of the staircase, and apparently reversing the front and back of the house. Houston's family occupied the house until 1859, the period during which he served as a
United States senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
, and as
Governor of Texas. Houston's signature achievements, the independence of Texas and its subsequent annexation to the United States, happened before he took up residence here.
[
The house is now accompanied by a reconstruction kitchen outbuilding, as well as the restored cabin that he used as a law office.][
]
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Texas
This is a List of National Historic Landmarks in Texas and other landmarks of equivalent landmark status in the state. The United States' National Historic Landmark (NHL) program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and re ...
*
* Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Walker County
References
External links
Sam Houston Memorial Museum
{{Authority control
Houses completed in 1847
Historic house museums in Texas
National Historic Landmarks in Texas
Museums in Walker County, Texas
University museums in Texas
Biographical museums in Texas
Sam Houston State University
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
1847 establishments in Texas
Sam Houston
National Register of Historic Places in Walker County, Texas