Since the arrival of Plano’s founding families, residents have always taken pride in their houses. In Plano Past & Present (Arcadia Publishing, July 17, 2023), a new book by Mary Jacobs, Cheryl Smith and Jeff Campbell, along with photographer Jennifer Shertzer, those historic homes are chronicled, and images from Plano’s early years are paired with modern photos of the same, or similar, locations. Plano Past & Present is available at the Interurban Railway Museum in downtown Plano as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. All proceeds benefit the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation.
Here are excerpts. Except where otherwise noted, all vintage photos are courtesy of the Plano Public Library; modern images are by Jennifer Shertzer.
This home at 1413 East 15th Street was built in 1901 by A.G. McAdams, an architect and lumber dealer who moved with his family to Plano from St. Louis, Missouri. Later the home was purchased by E.J. Roller and has been known as the Roller House ever since. Roller was one of the founding stockholders of First Guaranty State Bank of Plano, chartered in 1910 and taken over by Plano National Bank in 1917.
Joe and Elizabeth Forman built this home in 1867. Today it is one of the oldest homes still standing in Plano, located at 1617 K Avenue. Over the years, the Greek Revival structure has served as a residence, a stagecoach stop and an apartment house. Pictured in 2023 is Gwen Workman, owner of the Wooden Spoon, a shop selling Scandinavian items and an informal Scandinavian cultural center. Vintage photo from the 1930s is courtesy of Gwen Workman.
The home of Silas M. Harrington once stood at the corner of West 15th Street and Columbia Place. Silas, born in 1862, was a civic leader, a family man and an active member of the Methodist Church, where he taught the Baraca men’s class. He also owned Harrington Pharmacy in downtown Plano. Today, office buildings occupy the spot where the home once stood.
The John Harrington house was located near the southwest corner of what is now Custer Road and Spring Creek Parkway. Vintage photo is likely circa early 1920s. Harrington married Mary Frances (Fannie) Mathews, a dedicated churchwoman for whom the Fannie Harrington Methodist Chapel was named. The chapel was torn down in 1962 when the church was dissolved. Today, Allen Family Funeral Options and Custer Road Church of Christ occupy the area where the John Harrington House once stood.
The Haggard-Fox House (previously known as the Collinwood House) was the home of Clinton Shepard “C.S.” Haggard and Nancy Catherine Lunsford “Nannie Kate” Haggard, purchased from the Fox brothers in 1862. Preservationists discovered this was the oldest existing house in Plano — possibly pre-Civil War — in 2014, just as the city prepared to demolish it. In 2018, the house was relocated to Haggard farmland. Pictured in 2023 is Windhaven Meadows Park, built on the land where the Haggard-Fox house previously stood.
Members of the Haggard family have lived on this farm near Park Boulevard and Custer Road since 1884, when C.S. and Nannie Kate built their new house. That original home was remodeled in the 1930s by W.O. Haggard Sr. and his wife Rosa, and then torn down in 1967, with a new home built for W.O. Haggard Jr. and his wife Merle. Haggard family members still live there today. Residential development has filled the northern pasture where cattle once grazed.
Pictured in the vintage photo is the William Joel Carpenter home at 708 East 16th Street, with Emma B. Carpenter, W.J. Carpenter and B.B. Carpenter Sr. in 1908. William’s father, Robert Washington Carpenter, was among Plano’s earliest settlers and a large donor in support of Add-Ran College, now Texas Christian University. The house was later widened to add a bathroom and kitchen in the 1940s and 1950s. The house is currently owned by descendants of the Carpenter family.
This Queen Anne Victorian mansion on 16th Street at M Avenue was built in 1898 for Col. Henry C. Overaker and his new bride. After Overaker died, the property was bought in 1919 by Gibson Carpenter, a prominent teacher, lawyer and farmer, and remained in the Carpenter family until the 1950s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Carpenter House was an event venue for weddings. The home is privately owned today. Vintage photo, date unknown, is courtesy of Joan Keagy.
This home was built in 1917 for Celestine Saigling, the widow of C.F. Saigling, a prominent citizen who owned lumberyards, sawmills and flour mills in Plano. Celestine remained there until her death in 1932. Dr. O.T. Mitchell owned the home when the vintage photo, circa 1940, was taken. In 2017, the Saigling House at 902 East 16th Street was renovated and became the ArtCentre of Plano, a gallery and events venue. Vintage photo is courtesy of the ArtCentre of Plano.
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smoot (1834-1914) lived in this house at 909 East 16th with her son, John, and Mattie Hulse. John was a doctor at Baylor Hospital and later taught at Baylor Medical School. The house still stands and is a private residence. Granny Smoot, as she was affectionately known to many, was active in keeping Plano’s cemeteries in good condition. She is buried in Plano Mutual Cemetery.
