Rose, Maj. A. J., House
Wm. Rose Way and Royal St., Salado, TXIn 1870 Major Archibald Johnson Rose moved to Bell County, Texas, and built his homestead on a farm near the town of Salado. The Rose house stands today relatively unchanged since its construction has been in continuous use through four succeeding generations of the Rose family until 1973. The house is a vernacular Greek Revival example with generous proportions and a fine two-story front portico. It is a good example of the simplification of detail that gives vernacular houses a certain vigor and charm. Instead of a classic order, well-executed and proportioned molding and square columns are employed.
The house achieves a certain dignity and elegance in its two-story portico with full-height columns The portico frames and shelters the entrance but does not extend the full length of the front of the house in a scheme that is more indebted to Palladian influences than Greek Revival. However, it is a form often used on the simple Greek Revival farm houses in Texas.
The man who built the house, Major A. J. Rose, was a colorful Texas pioneer. He was born in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1830 but grew up on the Missouri frontier. As a young man he made his way overland to California during the Gold Rush of 1849, Rose married Sallie A. Austin of Missouri. In 1857 he moved to Texas overland with a mule team, his wife, and two children and settled in San Saba County, an outpost of white settlement. During the Civil War, Rose served as an officer of the Confederate army on the Indian frontier, first as Lieutenant and later as Major. After the war Rose moved to Travis County and finally settled on his farm near Salado. Among Major Rose's achievements, he was a founder and Worthy Master of the State Grange, a Grand Master of the Masons, President of the Board of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College (Texas A & M University), and Commissioner of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics and History for the State of Texas.
The subsequent owners of the house were Major Rose's direct descendants. His son, William Seymour Rose was an elected surveyor for Bell County. W. S. Rose, Jr. and W. S. Rose III resided on the property as farmers. The last two generations were especially concerned with maintaining and perpetuating the historical value of the house and property. Garland S. Anderson, the present owner, is a great-grandson of Major A. J. Rose. Mr. Anderson's paternal grandmother was reared in the house and he was a frequent visitor as a child. Mr. Anderson and his family plan to renovate the structures and surrounding eighteen acres.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
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.