{"nrhp_refnum":"75000152","name":"McBride Ranch House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Amarillo in Lake Meredith Recreation Area","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amarillo","county":"Potter County","state":"TX","lat":35.54142765200004,"lon":-101.72933565499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A partial dugout ranch house of native limestone, built in 1903 at the head of McBride Canyon in the Lake Meredith (Sanford) Recreation Area north of Amarillo, Potter County, Texas.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest remaining ranch house in Potter County and one of the most substantial structures in the park from the early ranching era. It recalls the initial ranching economy of Anglo-Americans in the area. The Potter County Historical Survey Committee had already designated it worthy of preservation.","narrative":"Built in 1903 at the head of McBride Canyon, this partial dugout ranch house of native limestone sits in what is now the Lake Meredith Recreation Area north of Amarillo. David Nicholas McBride bought four sections of land from the American Pastoral Company in 1897 and lived in a frame house for a few years before building the stone home. The two-room structure is divided by a frame wall and a limestone fireplace, with bridge timbers forming the ridge beams. Floors were made of mortar and soil, and the walls were plastered with lime fired in a kiln on the ranch. The National Park Service restored it using a 1970 historic structures report and interviews with McBride's daughter. It is recognized as the oldest remaining ranch house in Potter County and as a reminder of the early cattle ranching that shaped the Texas Panhandle. Remains of an ice house and a later storage shed survive nearby.","period_of_significance":"20th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored by the National Park Service; a data sheet lists its present function as not in use, and a 1975 memo says the stabilization project is complete.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.418183-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/9731/40973173/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75000152.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000152/d2e2c3f86f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000152/d2e2c3f86f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"National Park Service","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McBride_Ranch_House_TX_NPS.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">National Park Service</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McBride_Ranch_House_TX_NPS.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973173","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McBride_Ranch_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000949"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/potter-county/mcbride-ranch-house-75000152/"}