Piner/Davis House - 1400 Scurry
Editor’s Note: The Heritage Museum is a local preserver of local history and each week shares a small piece of history from the foundational years of our community. For the past several weeks we have been visiting a few noteable houses in the community - some of which are no longer standing. For more historical information about Howard County take a moment and visit the Heritage Musuem.
“Built in 1906” was the date documented on one of the rafters in the attic of the high-pitched roof at 1400 Scurry. The house was built by R.T. Piner, a local banker/Realtor, who only lived in the home for a short time before selling to Charles Davis in 1911.
Two of the four Davis daughters were born in the house. The Davis' had homesteaded land in Pecos during the early 1900's. They sold the land which paid for the purchase of the six-room home in Big Spring.
The Davis girls liked the large upstairs room where they often slept in the summer and spent many hours playing paper dolls that had been cut from the catalogs.
Mrs. Davis recalled that she usually rode the buggy eleven blocks to the Methodist Church. she also remembered that the girls walked to school, “I
The Piner/Davis House is one of the many in our community that holds history which served as a foundation for our community. More information on these homes can be found by visiting the Heritage Museum. could stand in my front yard and watch them walk over two ravines to arrive safely at South Ward School.”
Mrs. Davis added “there was time and need for neighbors and we often relied upon the Morgan, the Halls and others in the area.”
The house was sold in 1942 to the
A.B. Wades, who had rented it for several years prior to purchasing it. Their daughter, Mrs. Maureen Terrell continued to live in the home for the duration of her life. Mrs. Terrell taught piano in her home for several years and rented out a spare room to help supplement her meager social security. The house had started to need a lot of repairs that Mrs. Terrell could not afford.
Tragically, the home was broken into on March 5, 1984. Mrs. Terrell was severely beaten by a former “handy man” and his accomplice.
She passed away three days later in a Lubbock hospital at the age of 81.
The little house on Scurry remained vacant before it was eventually torn down.