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Born in Tennessee, Hiram B. Reynolds (1858-1929) came to Texas with his parents in 1866 and lived near Sparta, a locality now absorbed into Fort Hood. He grew up on a farm and received a good education. Going into business, he had stores in Nolanville and Belton, and became a successful cotton broker and investor in farms. He married in 1904 Mrs. Hettie Mize Hall, a widow with three children; the couple had two sons. In 1915, the family moved to Killeen and built this house on one of their farms which was then producing corn, cotton, livestock, and small grains. For the time and place, this was considered an unusually fine structure. It had five bedrooms, a storage room, halls, porches, a parlor, kitchen, dining room, butler's pantry, carbide lights, and a bathroom with fixtures only for bathing. This was home to members of the Reynolds family until 1942. Of the several hundred farm and ranch houses that were acquired by the United States Government when Fort Hood was established, this house alone survives. As a symbol of the vanished communities of the area, it links the past and present. Remodeled in 1954, it has been the residence of numerous general officers stationed at Fort Hood. (1976) SUPPLEMENTAL PLATE: After 100 years of honorable service to the Reynolds family, Killeen and Fort Hood, the Reynolds House was demolished April 14, 2015. |
