Historical Marker
The Kay House
Historical marker location:
Winona, Texas
( SH 155 ROW, 1 mi. north of Winona)
Marker installed: 1983
South Carolina planter Francis Lemuel Kay (1814-1867) settled in Smith County in 1856. Between 1856 and 1860, Kay bought 640 acres of land and built this two-story home for his wife Mary Ellen (Black) (1826-1896) and their eleven children. By 1860 Kay owned and operated 1300 acres of farm and ranchland. The Kay family sold the property to the Combination Orchard Company in 1909, and the house became the headquarters for the company's pecan orchards. In 1937 the Hunt Oil Company bought the house and land and has continued to operate the pecan business.