6265 Hwy. 59 N., Woodlawn
Current Owner 2013: Willa W. Berryman
TX Historical Marker
The J.B. Henderson House became aTX Historical Landmark in 1965.Historic American Buildings Survey
The J.B. Henderson House was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1933.Architectural Survey
• Description: The 1868 John Barry Henderson Home is a two-story masonry and frame house. The first floor are made from native red stone and the second floor is made from local timber. A balcony, with ornamental railing extends the length of the house across the front of the upper story. A dogtrot hall runs the width of the house and an open back porch extends across the back. When constructed, the two upstairs bedrooms had no direct passage between them and each room had one door which led onton the balcony, a design indicating that the house was used as an inn.
• Significance: The John Barry Hednesron house was once an inn for passengers traveling along the Shreveport-Dangerfield stage line. It is also the only nineteenth century native stone home in Harrison County.
Historical Background
Located between Jefferson and Marshall, the John Barry Henderson home is also known as "Old Stagecoach House." Gary Hume, a historian for the Texas State Historical Survey Committee estimated that the two rooms in the back wing were built around 1844. The front section of the home was not completed until 1868 after John Henderson purchased the home. Deed records show several owners of the land and house before Henderson purchased it the home in 1868 from George and Mary Rives. (Harrison County Deed Recrods, Book V, Pg 403, filed April 15, 1868). After Henderson acquired the home and added the front portion, he and his wife Nancy Berry established a way station for the stagecoach line that ran from Shreveport to Marshall, Texarkana, Daingerfield, Mount Pleasant, and Clarksville.
Stagecoach operations slowed down after the railroad was completed and by the 1870's, the Hendersons began to raise horses as their main source of revenue. After J.B. Henderson died in 1902, the home was acquired by John Henderson's son, James Nathan Henderson in 1888. (Harrison County Deed Records, Book 22, Pg. 584, filed June 6, 1888). James and his wife Francis Adora Traylor operated a farm for several years thereafter. James continued to run the farm even after his wife died in 1906. After James Henderson died in 1925, the house was inherited by his daughter, Etta May and her husband Robert H. Wood (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 138, Pg. 303, filed Feb. 23, 1925). They lived in the home for over forty years, and after Etta May and Robert passed away the home was inherited by their sons Robert H. Wood, Perry N. Wood and William H. Wood. (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 716, Pg 263, filed October 23, 1972). They in turn sold it to their sister Dorothy Wood Keasler the following monht (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 716, Pg. 261, filed November 1, 1972). Deed Records show that in 1995 Dorothy Keasler sold the home to her sister and brother-in-law Leon G. and Nancy Wood-Van Alstine. As of 2013, the house is owned by Willa W. Berryman, the daughter of Perry and Lois Wood.
The home is in excellent condition and remains the same as when John Henderson added on to the original two-bedroom structure, which is connected to the back of the house. The floor plan includes an entry foyer, master bedroom, and living room on the first level and two bedrooms divided by a staircase on the second level. The older west wing includes a kitchen, dining room, and family room on the first level and two bedrooms on the second level.
