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James Dunn Houston was born November 18, 1851,
in DeWitt County, Texas. He was one of six children.
James Dunn came to Gonzales County in 1864.
When he was eighteen years old he engaged in the
cattle business and drove his herds north to Kansas for
pasturage. On December 2, 1873, he married Dora
Chenault. When Dunn was twenty-three, he and his
brother, R. A. Houston, bought interest in a ranch
in the Texas Panhandle. They sold their interest in
that ranch in 1882 for $525,000 which for that time
was a huge transaction, even for Texas. He and his
brother began buying land and, in 1883, purchased a
6,000 acre ranch on the Pecos River. This, along with
other land he owned in Gonzales County, totaled over
22,000 acres. The magnitude of the Houston ranching
empire is indicated by two articles in the March 17,
1884, edition of The Gonzales Inquirer. One article
states that "J.D. Houston and others are shipping 10,000
head of cattle to Witchita Falls." The other article
relates that "J.D. and W.B. Houston will have 3,000 -
4,000 head of two year olds on the trail in two weeks."
It took Dunn several years to build his home at 619
St. Lawrence Street. Construction on the red brick
structure was begun in 1895 and completed in 1898.
The Queen Anne Victorian style house has fifteen main
rooms, five bathrooms and several halls and walkways. It
has an indoor conservatory and each of the main rooms
has its own individually designed fireplace. The floors
throughout the first story are oak hardwood with an
J.D. HOUSTON
HOUSE
619 St. Lawrence Street
Photograph By Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography
Historic Photo courtesy of the Gonzales County archives.
