Howard, Robert E., House
a.k.a. Howard,Isaac M. and Hester Ervin,House
Jct. of TX 36 (Fourth St.) and Ave. J, Cross Plains, TXThe Robert E. Howard House, Texas State Highway 36 West, Cross Plains, Callahan County, is significant in the area of LITERATURE. In 1919, Howard moved into the house with his parents, and from 1924 to his death in 1936, he wrote most of the stories for which he is internationally renowned. Howard wrote for the pulp fiction magazines which enjoyed extensive popularity in the early and mid-twentieth century and created a subgenre of literature --heroic fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery--which attained its widest popularity almost thirty years after Howard's death. Although Howard wrote in a variety of genres and created a number of popular series characters, he enjoyed his greatest success in the subgenre of popular literature which he created and which featured his most successful and enduring character, Conan the Cimmerian. Regarded as one of the major twentieth-century exponents of fantasy literature, Howard's significance is national. The period of significance extends from 1919, when Howard, who had already embarked on his tentative writing career, and his parents moved into the house, until 1936, when Howard, despondent over the impending death of his mother, committed suicide. The Robert E. Howard House is the one property most closely associated with the writer's life and career and served as both his home and office for his brief career.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
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.