Simon Peter Hawkins House

May 26

The Simon Peter Hawkins House is a rare example of early settlement-era construction in Wichita County. Located in Burkburnett, a city on the Texas-Oklahoma border, the house was built around 1883 using box construction, an efficient building method in which walls were assembled in sections without interior studs. Hawkins was a prominent early settler who served as a mail carrier, civic organizer, and otherwise played an important role in the establishment of Wichita County. The house was expanded in the early twentieth century to accommodate a growing family and reflects both frontier building practices and the evolving domestic needs of its occupants.

Now owned by the Burkburnett Historical Society, the Hawkins House still stands on its original site, though it is now confined to a small, isolated plot barely larger than the structure itself and surrounded by industrial development. It was restored in the late 1990s and once served as a stop on a local historic tour, but in recent years public access and engagement have declined significantly. The lack of space for parking, programming, or interpretation has effectively rendered the site inaccessible. The Society seeks to secure long-term protection for the Hawkins House by moving it to their museum property downtown to interpret early settlement history in Wichita County and North Central Texas.