If you’re looking for a glimpse of Texas history, Fanthorp Inn is a hidden gem right here in the Brazos Valley. This nearly 200-year-old dogtrot house in Anderson has been a stagecoach stop, a post office, an inn, and a private family residence in its long history.
First built in 1834 by Henry Fanthorp, the inn became the first post office on the La Bahia Trail between San Felipe de Austin and Nacogdoches in 1835, says Lead Educator/Interpreter Jordan Anderson with the Texas Historical Commission. Fanthorp was a rich and influential man at the time, founding two nearby towns, Fanthorp and Alta Mira. Those eventually combined and were renamed Anderson after the last vice president of the Republic of Texas, Kenneth L. Anderson, who died at Fanthorp Inn.
“When you go to the inn today, one thing that comes to mind is, ‘Oh it’s a nice house,’ but Fanthorp was worth about $2.5 million in today’s money by 1850, so while the house doesn’t look like a stereotypical Southern plantation, he was very wealthy,” says Anderson. “In 1850, census records show he had between 13 to 14 [enslaved people] and in 1860, it was 30 to 31.”
In its heyday, Fanthorp Inn was one of the best inns in the area. Prominent Texas figures like Sam Houston and the last president of the Republic of Texas Anson Jones stayed there, and the complex had a total of nine buildings supporting the inn, including a store and a stagecoach barn. Fanthorp hosted San Jacinto Day festivals, circuses, and menageries on his property, attended by up to 150 people, says Anderson. The inn operated until 1868, a year after Fanthorp died, when it was converted back to a private residence. It stayed in the family until 1970 when the state obtained ownership.
“It took about 10 years to restore it because it was heavily modified when the family made it back into a private residence,” says Anderson. “They divided large rooms, took out walls where the inn section was, adapted it to suit their own needs, and added restrooms. [Texas Wildlife and Fisheries] was lucky enough to find the ghost lines from where old walls for the inn had been and were able to put those back in exactly as they were.”
The site was closed in the late 2000s due to budget cuts, but Washington-on-the-Brazos took it over to provide maintenance and staff for tours. Fanthorp Inn is open for free tours every Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3:30pm. Groups and schools can schedule tours Wednesday through Friday. Anderson says he hopes they will be open another day of the week in the near future. If you come on one of the seven Stagecoach Saturdays of the year, you can catch a ride around town in a stagecoach, depending on weather.
“The inn has its own 1850s stagecoach replica, and on Stagecoach Saturdays, there’s a team of mules there to pull that,” says Anderson. “It takes you from the inn around the courthouse, which was designed by Henry Fanthorp and is on land donated by him, then back to the inn. We also have dulcimer players come out to play live music.”
Even if you don’t visit on a Stagecoach Saturday, the stagecoach is always there to look at and sit in. The house you can tour is dogtrot style, a common architectural feature of the time that acted as the air conditioning for the house by allowing wind to blow through the middle. Most of the flooring and various features of the house are original, and with the period-appropriate furnishings, stepping into Fanthorp Inn is like stepping back in time.
“Many of the furnishings are antiques,” says Anderson. “The state went around and developed a collections plan to find appropriate pieces for the Fanthorp family. We do have some original items from the family, and we make a point to point them out on tours. Nothing is behind glass. We do allow you to touch things. Some descendants are still in the area, so we have hopes to acquire some more artifacts that are directly related to Henry Fanthorp. And of course, we do have some replicas.”
Anderson says the state has plans in the works to give the site even more care and upkeep that it needs, but in the meantime, they’re continuing to share the story of Fanthorp Inn with visitors to help Texas history come alive.
“Who doesn’t enjoy an origin story?” says Anderson. “This is an origin story about where you got to stay when you traveled. This was a place you got stay in style. ‘Style’ in 1850 is completely different from ‘style’ that we’re used to today. … Fanthorp existed in four different countries — Mexico, Texas, the Confederacy, and the U.S. — without ever having moved. It’s a great way to find out where we’ve come from and where going on to.”
