Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site
Anderson, Texas
2025 HISTORIC RESTORATION AWARD
Fanthorp Inn was originally constructed in 1834, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Its builder, Henry Fanthorp, was an English immigrant who petitioned Stephen F. Austin to settle in his colony. He purchased over a thousand acres of land and built a simple two-room dogtrot log house for his family. Fanthorp’s home happened to sit at the crossroads of two major stage routes — and before long, travelers began arriving at his door.
What began as a humble frontier home quickly grew into one of the most important stage stops and social centers in early rural Texas. By 1850, the building had expanded into an 18-room complex — with a store, a post office, and a hotel that one visitor described as “the finest inn in the South.”
Among Fanthorp’s renowned guests were Sam Houston, Dr. Anson Jones, and Henderson Yoakum. In 1845, the last vice president of Texas, Kenneth Anderson, passed away at the inn, leading the community that grew around the inn to be renamed “Anderson,” in his honor.
Nearly two centuries later, the Texas Historical Commission has preserved the historic inn as a State Historic Site. However, the building’s wood siding, windows, and roof were deteriorating, threatening the integrity of the building.
The restoration project was led by Phoenix I Restoration and Construction, in partnership with THC. The project focused on comprehensive exterior restoration guided by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.
The team removed, repaired, and replaced deteriorated siding, windows, doors, and roofing materials — each missing element crafted to replicate the building’s original 1834 design as closely as possible. Every window and door was removed on the first day of the project; each pane of original 19th-century glass was labeled, preserved, and carefully returned to its correct location. The roof was replaced with period-appropriate hand-cut cedar shakes, and the original wood lap siding beneath the porches was preserved in place.
During lead paint abatement, crews uncovered handwritten messages left by generations past on the historic siding as the layers of paint were stripped away. Recognizing the importance of this personal record, the project team decided not to conceal them. Plexiglass panels were installed over the original boards, allowing visitors to see these writings up close.
Today, visitors at the restored Historic Site gain insight into what life was like at an early Texas stagecoach stop. The site also serves as a living classroom for K–12 students and educators, connecting them directly to Texas history through interactive tours and outreach programs. Thanks to this restoration, the Fanthorp Inn continues to stand as one of Texas’s oldest surviving buildings.
The award was presented at Preservation Texas’s 2025 Honor Award Ceremony in San Antonio on October 30, 2025.
Owner: Texas Historical Commission (THC)
Owner’s Project Manager: Sarah Deardorff, THC
Architect: Glenn Reed, THC Historic Sites Division
Contractor: Phoenix I Restoration and Construction
Contractor’s Project Manager: Andrew Dyke, Phoenix I
Other Partners and Stakeholders: Larry Boyd, East Fork Enterprises, Inc.
