Strain, W. A., House
400 E. Pecan St., Lancaster, TXThe W. A. Strain House near Lancaster, Texas, is an excellent example of late Victorian architecture, designed by J. E. Flanders & Moad of Dallas. This firm also designed the Trinity Methodist Church in Dallas, and the Shackleford County Courthouse, which is part of a historic district in Albany, Texas. Joe Lyon built the house in 1896. The 374-acre farm on which it is located has been designated one of 560 farms in Texas for the Family Land Heritage Program. This land has been farmed for over 130 years by the same family. The Strain family has shown pride in their old family home by maintaining it with few alterations since it was built 72 years ago. The house has been the meeting place of many Baptist groups over the years and is the annual location of the Lancaster Historical Society spring luncheon and meeting.
W. A. Strain (1861-1907) was the son of M. L. Fornsworth and W. S. Strain of Washington County, Tennessee. W. A. Strain came to Texas sometime before 1887, followed by his family. He purchased a building on the north side of the square in Lancaster in 1889 in which he opened a drugstore. His brother, Horace, managed this store while W. A. opened another drugstore in Waxahachie.
In 1895, after marrying Minnie White (1867-1957), Strain moved back to Lancaster, sold his two businesses, and bought the 380 farm from his wife's family. The young couple was able to build the large house on the hill just east of the W. L. White cotton gin due to the encouragement and financial aid of Minnie's widowed mother, Mrs. W. L. White. Mr. and Mrs. White had planned to build a home one day on the site their daughter and son-in-law utilized in 1896.
The house was built on land that had been settled by Mrs. White's parents, Thomas McKee and Mary Witt Ellis, in 1846. W. L. White was a cattleman, banker, investor, and ginner. W. A. Strain helped the White sons run the gin after W. L. White died, and farmed his 380 acres until his death from tuberculosis in 1907. The Strain heirs have continued to live in the old family home, maintaining it with very few alterations and much of the original furnishings still intact.
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.