Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site

On a recent trip to Bonham, we stopped by the Sam Rayburn House and Historic Site which is run by the Texas Historical Commission. 

On the day that we went, it happened to be the 50th anniversary of the house becoming a museum. There was a news person recording a segment when we got there. We went on a Thursday and got a personalized tour from the THC.

Sam Rayburn was born in Tennessee but his family moved to Texas in 1887. He started out as a school teacher. In 1906 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. While serving in the Texas House, he enrolled at the University of Texas Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1908. In 1911, he was elected Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, the youngest person to have served in that position. In 1912, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and was re-elected 25 times. He was Speaker of the House for 17 non-consecutive years. He kept his seat in the House of Representatives until he died in 1961.

In 1913, he bought 121 acres of land just outside of Bonham. The house was built in 1916 and he lived here with various members of his family, including his parents. His brother, Tom, ran the farm while Sam was in Washington. 

When Sam Rayburn passed away, the house and all its furnished passed into the Sam Rayburn Foundation. In 1972, the house was turned into a museum that is run by the Texas Historical Commission. When you walk into the house, this is the room you go into. All the furnishings belonged to the family.

To the left is this guest room with a private bathroom. 

A frequent guest in this room was Lyndon Johnson and his wife. Rayburn was a mentor to a young Lyndon Johnson.

To the right of the living area is the formal dining room.

John noticed that the cabinet in the corner was missing it's back legs so that it was leaning against the wall. According to our tour guide, that was on purpose so that the dishes wouldn't fall to the floor if there was any shifting in the foundation.

When you follow the door in the formal dining room, you go into the family dining room. It's like the first three rooms that face the front of the house were "public" rooms and once you went through this door, this is where the family actually lived.

To the right of the family dining room was the kitchen.

Off the kitchen was another room that was a pantry. Boy would I like a pantry of this size in my house!

To the other side of the family dining room is the sitting room. I read that this was Sam's favorite room in the house and that he'd use it as his office when he was in town.

This was Sam's bedroom. It's a long rectangle room that faced the front of the house. 

The bathroom that he shared with his sister, Miss Lou. When the house was built, it was set up for indoor plumbing. Unfortunately, the well was dug too far from the house to have any water pressure. They had to dig another well closer. That took over a year, which meant, no indoor plumbing until that second well was dug. Yikes!

Sam was one of eleven children. He married briefly (less than a year) and didn't have any children. He lived in this house with his older sister, Lucinda, who was known to all as Miss Lou. This was her room. That door way leads to an enclosed porch where unmarried female family members would stay, under the watchful eye of Miss Lou.

Miss Lou's portable tv. I would imagine this was a black & white television. It's hard to imagine watching a screen that small for any length of time. But, I bet it was state-of-the-art when it was purchased.

This is the back porch. It's screened in so they could sit out here and catch the breeze without having to deal with bugs. That big door to the right leads into the sitting room and I think the other door goes to the kitchen.

I thought this was a pretty cool story: When the Democrats lost the House in 1947, Sam became the Minority Leader. The members wanted to get him a gift, but he refused to accept any gift that was greater than $25. So, 142 Democrats and 50 Republicans donated $25 each and bought him this 1947 Fleetwood Cadillac. He returned the money to all the Republicans (to avoid what he thought might be a conflict of interest), but he did thank them for the gesture.

The car was too long to fit in his garage, so he extended just the area required to get the car all the way in. The staff still drives this car in parades and such.

A view of the Rayburn property. It's very cool and very peaceful out there. 

They have activities for school kids as well. It's still a working farm in that regard. They have a live turkey! I'd never seen a live turkey before. According to the tour guide, the turkey is kinda mean.

The Texas Historical Commission does an amazing job. If you're ever in the area, stop in and say hello. The site is open Tues - Sat from 10 - 4. The guided tours are at the top of every hour and it's only $6 to get in.