Downes-Aldrich House

The Downes-Aldrich, House, located at 206 North Seventh Street in Central Crockett, Texas, is an imposing, late Victorian residence built by J. E. Downes, one of the men responsible for the construction of the Houston County Courthouse. A. A. Aldrich, the mansion's second owner, was the descendant of some of Houston County's first settlers and was active in local, state and national politics and civic affairs, as well as acting as a college trustee and noteworthy local historian throughout his long life.

James Elbert Downes began construction of the home in 1891, ordering stained glass, quarter-sawn, curly pine paneling, and other carefully crafted items made for the house, which took until 1893 to complete. The construction of the residence represented a considerable improvement in the fortunes of both Downes and Houston County. In 1865 Downes had been one of the original petitioners to the Texas Military Reconstruction Government requesting funding for the construction of a new County Courthouse to replace the original wooden building which had burned down. The economy of largely agricultural Houston County had been so devastated by the Civil War and the inauguration of Reconstruction, that according to the petition "There was not sufficient tax revenue nor cash of any kind" in the entire County to replace the destroyed Courthouse. The petitioner's pleas went unheeded until 1871 when the State finally granted construction funds.

Downes and his general mercantile partner, John Foster, permitted the County to use the second floor of their store to serve as a temporary Courthouse during the six years that Houston County was without a courthouse structure. By the time of the home's construction, Downes' business had prospered to the point that he could afford the lavish fittings and millwork evident throughout the edifice.

In 1911, after moving his family to Dallas, Downes sold the house to Armistead Albert Aldrich, the grandson of Collin Aldrich, who was granted a league of land in the area in 1830, before Houston County was organized. Collin Aldrich served as the County's first Chief Justice after helping organize it in 1837.

A. A. Aldrich was born in Crockett on April 10, 1858, the son of Oliver Cromwell Aldrich, the County Clerk, and Eliza Aldrich, the daughter of one of the County's original grantees. Aldrich was tutored locally and attended the University of Virginia (1877-1878). He returned to Crockett and became a law clerk for the local firm of Nunn & Williams.

Aldrich wed Willie Arledge in 1881 and eventually had six children, Albertine, Oliver Cromwell, Hallie, Armistead, Jr., Mary, and John Calvin Aldrich. In 1883 Aldrich was admitted to the Bar and was appointed Assistant County Clerk by his father, who was then County Clerk.

Aldrich indulged in local politics and was elected to the City Board of Aldermen in 1890, the same year he first attended the State Democratic Convention. In 1893 Aldrich was elected County Judge while at the same time remaining one of Crockett's delegates to the State Democratic Conventions of 1892, 1896, and 1900. After the Convention of 1900 Aldrich returned to Crockett to campaign for, and eventually win, his District's seat in the Texas House of Representatives where he served on the Judiciary, Penitentiary, and State Asylum Committees, as well as chairing an ad hoc committee to inspect State orphanages and asylums. After a single term in the Statehouse Aldrich returned to Crockett to practice law in partnership with George Crook.

During the '20s Judge Aldrich began to compile information for a history of Houston County which was eventually published in 1943. (Naylor Publishing Co., San Antonio) He also began to
collect items for a projected County Museum.

In 1927 he became the President of the Houston County Bar Association and held that post for ten years. In 1934 Judge Aldrich was appointed head of the Houston County Centennial Celebration which was part of a statewide effort at recording local history and finding and identifying historical sites for Texas' 1936 Centennial Celebration. Aldrich was personally involved in locating the site of San Francisco de las Tejas Mission near Weches, Texas, and organized the collection for a small museum that opened in Crockett's Memorial Park.
During World War II, Judge Aldrich was a District Exemption Board (Draft Board) member until his death in August 1945.

The Judge's death ended a thirty-year tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees of Austin College, an institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The Judge's other civic interests included a charter membership in the Crockett Chamber of Commerce, membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Davy Crockett (Masonic) Lodge and the Lions Club. Judge Aldrich was evidently one of Crockett's most prominent citizens and did much to make his neighbors cognizant of local history and to recognize that history through the erection and establishment of monuments and a local museum.