[Historic Marker Application: James and Sara Cunningham House] Page: 1 of 20
[18] p. : ill. ; 28 cm. + 2 photographsView a full description of this text.
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Texas Historical Commission staff (SEM), 7/4/2013, rev (BB) 7/17/2013
27" x 42" Official Texas Historical Marker with post
Live Oak County (Job #13LK01) Subject (Atlas) UTM: 14 000000E 0000000NI
Location: Three Rivers, 411 E. Thornton Street
JAMES AND SARA CUNNINGHAM HOUSE
LATE IN 1899 JAMES (JIM) MONROE CUNNINGHAM MOVED TO OAKVILLE FROM
DEVINE AND BOUGHT THE LIVE OAK COUNTY LEADER. CUNNINGHAM SOON
MARRIED SARA EMMA (O'NEAL) AND THEY BEGAN A FAMILY. WHEN OAKVILLE
WAS BYPASSED BY THE SAN ANTONIO UVALDE AND GULF RAILROAD (SAU&G),
CUNNINGHAM MOVED HIS FAMILY AND BUSINESS SEVEN MILES WEST TO
HAMILTONBURG (LATER NAMED THREE RIVERS). HE THEN CONTRACTED THE
FIRST PERMANENT HOME IN THE NEW TOWN AS MOST DWELLINGS WERE
TEMPORARY TENT-LIKE STRUCTURES.
GEORGE D. SMITH CONTRACTED TO BUILD THE CUNNINGHAM HOME AND
COMPLETED IT IN SEPTEMBER 1913. THE PRAGMATIC ONE-STORY, FIVE-ROOM
FRAME HOUSE WITH WOOD SHINGLED ROOF INCORPORATED SEVERAL
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES, INCLUDING CONTEMPORARY PRAIRIE AND
FOURSQUARE WITH ELEMENTS OF VICTORIAN. A LARGE ENCLOSED HALLWAY
EXTENDING FROM THE FRONT DOOR TO THE BACK DOOR AND TWELVE FOOT
CEILINGS CREATED A CONVECTION EFFECT PERMITTING COOL SOUTHERLY
COASTAL BREEZES THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE.
THE HOME'S SPACIOUS INTERIOR OFTEN SERVED AS THE FOCAL POINT FOR
MANY SOCIAL EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY. THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY MADE
NUMEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THREE RIVERS THROUGH OWNING AND
EDITING THE AREA'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, THE LIVE OAK COUNTY LEADER
(AND THEN THE THREE RIVERS NEWS), SERVICE ON THE FIRST SCHOOL BOARD
AND LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL ACCREDITATION, ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH, AND MUSICAL INSTRUCTION AND MENTORING. THIS HISTORIC
HOME, WHICH IN ITS FIRST 100 YEARS SURVIVED TWENTY FLOODS AND THE
ATLANTIC GULF HURRICANE OF 1919 AND HURRICANE BEULAH IN 1967, EMBODIES
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTH TEXAS TOWN OF THREE RIVERS.
RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2013MARKER IS PROPERTY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS
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Texas Historical Commission. [Historic Marker Application: James and Sara Cunningham House], text, July 17, 2013; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth491855/m1/1/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.