Heard House
620 W. San Antonio St., San Marcos, TXLast, of the local turreted mansions, the Heard House on West San Antonio Street is a fine example of a Victorian type popular for its romantic, grandiose profile. Particularly notable are the porch trim and the wooden interior finishes. The house was built for a successful rancher.
Samuel McGehee Heard (born 1854) came to Texas from Arkansas as a child. He was educated by Major Ezekial Nance at his school near Kyle and apprenticed to Nance to learn the ranching business. In 1882, he married Nancy Zively, with whom he had six children. Six years later, he bought the nominated property from D.A. Nance.
Evidently, Heard was good at his trade, because in about 1888, he was able to build one of the fanciest houses in town. Many farmers and ranchers who had made their fortunes in the country were finding, during this period, that a house in town had definite social and financial advantages. Heard's home was distinguished by a three-story turret and lacy porch trim.
At the time the Heards built the house they owned the land from there down to (now) 626 W. San Antonio, and north to (now) Hopkins Street. Heard kept horses on this land, and rode to his ranch to oversee it.
Heard was described in an ebullient, but uninformative, obituary as a "genuine cowman--the ideal ranchman" in 1909. Family members remained in the house until 1944 when the late husband of the present owner purchased it.
Bibliography
Deed records for Hays County.
Interview with Flora Baker, April 5, 1982.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.