An Old House

My grandparent's house at 2224 North Fourth in Waco was built in the 1870's or 1880's, possibly even the 1860's.....when torn down in the late 1960's, I was able to save some of the square nails used in building it...they stopped making those kind of nails in the 1880's....a lot of good wood was salvaged from that old frame house...the man tearing it down thought it was near a hundred years old....house set way up high, as it was near the Brazos River, which until the 1970's would flood and the river floodwater could have reached it...my mother told me that in 1936, the river had come over the top of the pavilion in Cameron Park by Wilson's Creek and the old playground.....that was not far away. 

 The old house had a big front and side porch...I remember many a time sitting on that front porch in the shade, shucking corn, peeling peaches to can, cutting up okra or squash to can or fry, and shelling peas and pecans. There was no air conditioning, though my parents new house next door at 2220 North 4th Street had a window cooler. When the water hose was hooked to it, air blowing out was fairly cool but gave you pleurisy, where it hurt your lungs to breathe...The old house had a nine-foot hallway that ran from front door to back door, a real breezeway when doors were open. All the doors in the house had either real glass fancy doorknobs or the old round porcelain handles...either white or brown....the doors were never locked....don't think there was even a key.....all the floors were wood ,of course, and not varnished except in the living room, if I remember right... Lots of tall windows that stayed open  just about all the time, except in the coldest of weather.... People got up early and did their chores while cool as much as possible...At night, slept under a small fan that sat on the floor, much like the box fans of today. 

 You could make a pallet of Mama Head's patch-work, handsewn quilts on the front porch and sleep there, but the mosquitos might drive you crazy...best was one of the two double beds on the sleeping porch, a screened room big enough for the beds and Mama Head's quilting frame in one corner. Many a saved scrap fabric went into those practical and beautiful quilts she made....I remember many people quilting with her, even some of the men. I have so many wonderful memories of that old house and the people in it.