Claiborne Kyle Log House
historic place
Welcome to the Claiborne Kyle Log House, a historic place in Hays County, Texas. Colonel John Claiborne Kyle and his wife, Lucy Bugg, natives of Tennessee, came to the Republic of Texas from Mississippi in 1844. They built this four-pen dogtrot log home around 1850, soon after purchasing land along the Blanco River. The house was constructed of hand-hewn cedar logs, square-notched at the corners, and secured by wooden pegs. Limestone and caliche were used for chinking between the logs. This one-story structure is considered a rare example of frontier architecture, possibly the only surviving linear four-pen dogtrot in Texas. The home was located on the Austin-San Antonio stage route. Claiborne Kyle was an active political leader. During the Civil War, five of his sons served in the Confederate Army. One son, Captain Fergus Kyle, is the namesake for the nearby town of Kyle. Lucy Kyle died in 1863, and Colonel Kyle passed away in 1867. This log house serves as a reminder of the prominent Kyle pioneer family. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1982.