Puzzle complete; David Castle architecture in Rotan

- Callan House, Rotan -

The first result that comes up when using the search term "Rotan, Texas" on The Portal to Texas History website,which I look at nearly daily, is a photo and link showing the blueprint for the Dr. W. W. Callan residence, drafted by noted architect David S. Castle in 1923. I began to be curious if this house still existed.

After searching land records on Texas File, I got it into my head that the Murdoch house was the old Callan house. There was a transaction in 1990 from the Callan's to the Murdoch's, so I thought it must be. The problem was that a lot of renovation would have had to have taken place to make the house the shape it is now from the original plan.

According to Fisher County Appraisal records, the Murdoch house sits on block 217, lots 10, 11, 12, Inside Addition. A description of a brick veneer residence built in 1925 fit the timeline between the 1923 plan and Dr. Walter William Callan's death in 1928. Still, something was off to my mind's eye.

I searched Fisher County Records, Fisher CAD, The Portal to Texas and a lot of other websites trying to make the pieces fit. I looked for old phone books and perused Fisher County history books trying to find the specifics on the house. If I could have found an old phone directory or Polk Directory, I could have simply looked up the address, but I wasn't successful in that endeavor.

I looked more closely in Texas File, the holder of the oldest records, which go back to 1910 for the Callan's. I came upon a deed from the Duffer's to W. W. Callan, dated 1923. This property description is block 215, lots 10, 11, 12, Inside Additon. 

There is a house that stands on that property, but appraisal records show it as being built in 1920, outside of the timeline. Also, again, the shape wasn't quite right. It was similar, but the porte cochere was on a different side.

I drove by these houses over and over again, trying to match up things by sight. Finally, I used satellite imagery, comparing it to the blueprint overview to find the shape of the building. There it was, a block over from where I had originally been looking, and a few houses down from the 1920 house. Property description block 215, lots 7, 8, 9, Inside Addition.

There was a real sense of satisfaction in figuring it out, this puzzle that could have easily been put together by asking any number of people in Rotan or Fisher County. It was fun to dive back in time, though, and read the articles and look at the maps from a hundred years ago of the town and community I inhabit.

Photo source: The Portal of Texas History, Google Earth