The Sam Rayburn House Museum is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

at 890 West

Texas State Highway 56 State Highway 56 (SH 56) is a state highway Grayson and Fannin counties in north-central Texas, United States. This highway was designated in 1974 to replace U.S. Highway 82 (US 82) when it was rerouted north of Whitesbo ...

in Bonham, Fannin,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Built in 1916, it was home to

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

(1882-1961), a famously effective

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976. and Since 1972, it has been operated as a museum and state historic site by the

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

Description and history

The Sam Rayburn House is located on about on the south side of Texas Highway 56, on the western outskirts of Bonham. The property includes the main house, a storage building, shed, garage, wellhouse, and barn. The main house is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is protected by a shed-roof portico with two-story Tuscan columns, and there are three gabled dormers projecting from the roof. The facade is three bays wide, with a center entrance framed by sidelight and transom windows, topped by a projecting cornice. The house was originally thought to be built around 1904, before the Rayburn family purchased the property. Subsequent research later determined the date to be 1916, since Sam Rayburn's brother Tom took a lien on the property without the house on it. As originally built, the house was smaller and had a hip roof; its present configuration is the result of a major expansion commissioned by Rayburn from

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

architect W.B. Yarborough. Rayburn occupied the house until his death in 1961. Since he died divorced and childless, his sister lived there until her death in 1969, after which it was taken over by the Sam Rayburn Foundation. In 1972, the foundation turned most of the property (excepting only the barn) to the state for preservation. All the furnishings are original and remain as they were when the Rayburns lived there. Rayburn's 1947 Cadillac is also on site.MuseumsUSA: Sam Rayburn House Museum
/ref> Rayburn was one of the most influential Congressmen of the first half of the 20th century, serving for 17 years as the

. He was an important force in maintaining harmony between the northern and southern wings of the Democratic Party, and served as a mentor to future president

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

. Of three residences known to be associated with Rayburn, this one is the best preserved and most evocative of his life.

Gallery

File:Sam Rayburn House Museum June 2017 05 (dining area).jpg, Dining area File:Sam Rayburn House Museum June 2017 08 (family room).jpg, Family room File:Sam Rayburn House Museum June 2017 13 (Sam Rayburn's bedroom).jpg, Sam Rayburn's bedroom

References

External links

Sam Rayburn House Museum websiteSam Rayburn House

Handbook of Texas Online The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayburn, Samuel House National Historic Landmarks in Texas Museums in Fannin County, Texas Historic house museums in Texas Texas State Historic Sites Biographical museums in Texas Houses completed in 1916 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Houses in Fannin County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Fannin County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Sam Rayburn

Description and history

Gallery

See also

References

External links