{"nrhp_refnum":"71000936","name":"Braches House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 mi. SE of Gonzales off U.S. 90A","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gonzales","county":"Gonzales County","state":"TX","lat":29.476084918000026,"lon":-97.30925623399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-03-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large two-story-and-attic frame Greek Revival plantation house and former stage stop about 12 miles southeast of Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas, built between 1839 and 1842 by Bart McClure.","why_significant":"The house was built while Texas was an independent republic, and its full two-story Greek Revival gallery was advanced for inland Texas at the time. A large live oak in front, known as the Sam Houston Oak or Runaway Speech Oak, is tied to Sam Houston's 1836 orders during the Runaway Scrape. The house is also linked to McClure and Charles Braches, a Republic of Texas congressman and philanthropist.","narrative":"Twelve miles southeast of Gonzales stands a large Greek Revival plantation house that also served as a stage stop. Built between 1839 and 1842 by Bart McClure, an early Texas pioneer and first county judge of Gonzales County, it was constructed during the years of the Republic of Texas. Its two-story front gallery, with square columns, an entablature and stick balusters, was unusually advanced for inland Texas. After McClure died in 1842, his widow married Charles Braches, a Prussian immigrant who represented Gonzales County in the Seventh Congress of the Republic and later became known for gifts to schools and churches. In front of the house grows a live oak marked by the state as the place where Sam Houston, in March 1836, learned of the fall of the Alamo and ordered Fannin to retreat from Goliad, an episode tied to the Runaway Scrape. The house has lost its end chimneys and original front doors but retains its basic form.","period_of_significance":"1836, 1839-42 (19th century)","architect_builder":"Bart McClure (builder)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in fair condition, occupied as a private residence, with preservation work in progress; the owner was believed to plan restoration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.593666-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/9721/40972147/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/71000936.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000936/13f8f95edf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000936/13f8f95edf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Darrylpearson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gonzales-tx2016-21(braches-house).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Darrylpearson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gonzales-tx2016-21(braches-house).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972147","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002077"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/gonzales-county/braches-house-71000936/"}