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Y'Barbo's Stone House: The Evolution of A Texas Landmark
During the spring of 1779, Antonio Gil Y'Barbo (pronounced e-barvo) founded present day Nacogdoches with the settlement of 350 men, women, and children at the location of the abandoned Nacogdoches mission. Elected as the Lieutenant Governor of the new pueblo of Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Nacogdoches in October 1779, Gil Y'Barbo strove toward a stable future for the struggling population. "The most famous of Y'Barbo's contributions to the future stability of Nacogdoches is his stone house" - (Carolyn Spears, Curator of the Stone Fort Museum). Since the construction of Gil Y'Barbo's stone house sometime between the years of 1788 and 1791, the history and folklore of Nacogdoches and the stone structure have been interwoven. R.B. Blake describes the stone house as having a history more intriguing, more romantic, than any other building in the state of Texas, not even excluding the Alamo. The stone house was a landmark in Nacogdoches through the control of eight different governments in East Texas--Spain, the Magee-Gutierrez expedition of 1813, the James Long's Republic of 1819, the Republic of Fredonia of 1826, Mexico, the Texas Republic, the Confederacy, and the United States of America. Local legend tells that Sam Houston took the oath of allegiance to the Republic of Texas in the house, and Davy Crockett spent two nights there on his way from Tennessee to the Alamo. "Under its roof Jim Bowie and Stephen F. Austin also spent many days in trying times" (Post: 'Preserve the Old Fort', Tuesday morning, March 11, 1902). The variety of owners and uses of the stone house contribute to the rich texture of Nacogdoches life in the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. "During it's history, the original house served variously as a public building, grocery store, candy store, saloon, and as a temporary fortification during the Magee-Gutierrez, Dr. James Long and Fredonia Rebellion filibusters" -(Carolyn Spears, Curator of the Stone Fort Museum).
Under the ownership of Lycergus Roberts, the stone house served as a grocery and billiard saloon. "With the opening of the Stone Fort Saloon, Y'Barbo's stone house acquired its current nickname" - (Carolyn Spears, Curator of the Stone Fort Museum). J.R. Buchman, possibly the saloon owner at the time, placed an advertisement in the Nacogdoches Star News on July 31, 1891 that read: "It is fun to see the run in liquor sales now begun. The boss cigar and whiskey man is certainly at the Old Fort Stand."
In 1902, the oldest stone house in the state of Texas was demolished in order to make room for a more modern structure. The sordid history of some of the houses functions contributed to arguments for its destruction: "I may be willing that the Old Stone Fort; from whose hoary walls has oozed a continuous stream of calamity water ever since 1854, and for how much longer I don't know, should be torn down, and the ground upon which it stood plowed up and sowed in salt, and the rocks of which it is composed pulverized" - (George Ingraham to the Editor of the Daily Sentinel, February 22, 1902). There were a number of local residents and nonlocal supporters who were outraged and saddened by the looming destruction of the historic stone house and who fought for its preservation. On June 21, 1901 the editor of the Jacksonville Banner wrote: "The Old Stone Fort of Nacogdoches is to be torn down and a new building built where the old Fort now stands. What has become of Nacogdoches Patriotism?" In 1901, the Cum Concilio Club (a women's study club in Nacogdoches) struggled to raise enough money to save the historic stone house. The Club could not save the house intact, but they were able to raise enough money to purchase the stones from the house after its demolition. For five years the stones from the house were stored in an empty lot on Mound Street.
After five years of fundraising, the Cum Concilio Club succeeded in raising enough money to build a memorial building on Washington Square, and on July 4th of 1907, the Club laid the cornerstone for the memorial structure. The memorial building incorporated some of the original stones from Y'Barbo's stone house. Like the house it memorialized, the new structure served the community in a variety of functions, such as an early library and museum, a meeting place for clubs, and an adjunct school room for the Nacogdoches High School and Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College.
The Texas Centennial brought about a new interest in Texas history, and in 1936 a replica of the original stone house was built on the campus of the Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College. The memorial structure was torn down and some of the original stones from Y'Barbo's stone house were reused in the construction of the Stone Fort Museum. "The stated purpose of the museum was to preserve, as a replica, one of the earliest stone structures in Texas and East Texas, to preserve and display objects relating to the early history of Texas and create displays relating to this early history" -(Dr. James E. Corbin, Regents Professor Stephen F. Austin State University).
Now over fifty years old, the Stone Fort Museum still stands on the Stephen F. Austin State University Campus and qualifies as a Texas Centennial landmark. "In keeping with [its] early focus, the Stone Fort Museum's current mission is to "interpret the history of East Texas and Nacogdoches prior to 1900, placing special emphasis on the Spanish and Mexican periods, beginning in 1690 with the establishment of the Spanish Mission Tejas and ending with the overthrow of the Mexican government in 1836 by Texas Revolutionists" (brochure from the Stone Fort Museum).
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Photo Taken of Y'Barbo's Stone House, 1885 |
The Stone Fort Saloon |
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Photo taken during demolition, 1902 |
Postcard of the Stone House Memorial building, ca. 1931 |
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Souvenir Program for the Fort Dedication in 1936 |
Stone Fort Museum after completion on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College |
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