The
Architecture
The house is
Greek Revival Style, indicative
of the Fort Family's Alabama
heritage. It is constructed
of pink brick, locally made.
On either side of the front
door are fluted ionic columns;
which are original to the
house. They were made of
Cypress in New Orleans, shipped
to Galveston, then transported
to Waco overland by ox cart
and flat bottom boat on the
rivers and streams. The cypress
shutters are also original
to the house. The trim is
made of pine. The balcony
above the front door originally
extended to the columns.
The front of
the house is of the Neo-classical
style, called Greek Revival
that was common in the 1800s,
and indicative of the Fort
Family's Alabama heritage.
Greek Revival indicated perfect
exterior balance, which can
be seen in the pairs of arched
windows on both sides and
the chimneys on either end.
The original
plan consisted of a central
hall with a bedroom on the
left, staircase, parlor and
dining room on the right.
The upper floor repeats the
arrangement below with bedrooms
to the right and left of
a central hallway. The kitchen
was detached to minimize
the danger of fire and decrease
the amount of heat and odors
in the kitchen from entering
into the house. About 1876,
elongating the ell to add
two bedrooms on the upper
floor and a kitchen and a
three-walled room on the
first floor enlarged the
house. This area was left
open for wagons to pull in
and unload provisions directly
to the house. It is now enclosed
with white clapboard. Double
galleries extended to the
end of the ell on both the
upper and lower floors of
the house. All the added
bedrooms opened on to the
galleries.
The
Grounds
The home is
on its original site. The
original plot of land, on
which Fort House stands,
extended from South 4th and
Webster to encompass six
or more acres. The western
boundary was 5th Street.
The family kept horses, cows,
and poultry and maintained
extensive vegetable gardens
and orchards. Originally,
a white picket fence enclosed
the property. The wrought
iron fence replaced it sometime
prior to 1890. At the time
the home was constructed,
South 4th Street was just
a dirt road. On the corner
of South 4th Street and Webster
Avenue, stood a white arbor
covered with greenery that
offered a cool escape from
the hot Texas summers.
The
Family
William Aldridge
Fort was born in La Grange,
Alabama on April 30, 1826.
He came to Waco in 1854 with
a caravan of 500 people.
Intending to open a mercantile
store, he changed his mind
and established a plantation
four miles south of Waco.
On May 7, 1856 he married
Dionitia Elizabeth Wilson
in Waco, Texas. She gave
birth to four children on
the plantation: Walter V.,
Foster W., Willie and Mary.
He served with the Confederate
Army. After the war Fort
decided the area south of
Waco was too devastated,
so he purchased six acres
of land at South 4th Street
and Webster Avenue from his
wife. In 1868, he built Fort
House and moved his family
to the city. He was a partner
in Fort and Jackson Bank,
a private bank that merged
with Waco National Bank in
1874 when he became President
of that bank. He also started
Waco's first transit system
in Waco, a mule-drawn open
surrey with seats on each
side. He served the community
as President of Waco Bridge
Company, as Trustee of Waco
Female College and as a Trustee
of First Methodist Church.
Mary was stricken with typhoid
fever and died on July 7,
1878, at age 20. Mr. Fort
died on August 29, 1878 at
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
at the age of 52. Mrs. Fort
continued to live in the
house until her death in
1910. She was 80 years of
age. They are all buried
in Oakwood Cemetery.
Aramantha Fort
was William Aldridge Fort's
mother. She lived with the
family for ten years after
her husband, David Glendenning
Fort, died. She died in 1869
of inflammatory rheumatism.
Photographs |
