Boesch House

401 North San Jacinto Street, Whitney

When Whitney town lots were auctioned in 1879, German native Edouard Boesch (1842-1911), an east Texas lumber wholesaler, shipped the first load of lumber for the new town. Three years later he moved here and bought the lumberyard of William Cameron.

Boesch became one of Whitney’s leading residents and served as a school trustee for fourteen years. In 1885, he and his wife Emma built this two-story residence. Designed to withstand storms such as the tornado that struck the town that year, it was constructed on a foundation of heavy cypress timbers.