Without help, oldest home in Ennis to be demolished

Submitted photo.

The Mulkey-Loggins House is the oldest house in Ennis and is set to be demolished within weeks unless $50,000 can be raised to move it.

ENNIS — The Ennis Historical Society and residents are scrambling to save the oldest house in Ennis. Unless financial help is received in a very short period of time, the Mulkey-Loggins house will be demolished.

Located at 110 N Elm in Ennis, this 1.37 acre historical treasure is wedged between a Walmart parking lot and Braums. The property has been sold to a commercial developer who plans to tear down the house in a few weeks.

"The property has now been sold to a commercial concern and in a few weeks will be torn down unless the community can raise $50,000 to have the house moved," the Ennis Historical Society said in a written statement.

The Ennis Historical Society does not have the funds to move the house, but the board approved a $2,000 donation toward the efforts.

A Texas Historical Marker on the property of the Mulkey-Loggins House commemorates the historical significance of the property.

"Though the EHS does not have the financial resources to move or restore this community treasure, we have been working together with the City of Ennis to try and find a solution," the Ennis Historical Society wrote.

Ennis Historical Society Vice-President Angie Juenemann is working feverishly to raise funds in order to move and preserve the house.

Juenemann created a gofundme account on March 21 to allow residents and concerned parties to donate. She is needing to raise $50,000.

"The house must be physically moved to a new site. The cost of the home is nominal. The costs associated with the home involve securing a reputable mover as well as purchasing or owning property to where it can be moved," Juenemann stated.

According to the Ennis Historical Society, although the property the house rests on has historical landmark designation, the house itself does not.

The Texas Historical Marker on the property reads:

This property was part of a tract settled in 1854 by pioneer Philip A. Mulkey (d. 1862). Ennis was founded in 1871, when the Houston & Texas Central Railroad reached this point. Mulkey's son James (1859-1903), a prosperous cattleman, included this site in the Highland addition, a neighborhood that he developed after Ennis became the railroad's divisional headquarters in 1891. Dr. James C. Loggins (1845-1921), mayor and city alderman, erected this Victorian residence in 1898. It was purchased in 1944 by Keith Mulkey, James Mulkey's grandson, and his wife Tina Beth (Wheeler). (1978)

"Unless someone or some organization steps up to save the Mulkey-Loggins house it will be demolished in just a few weeks," the Ennis Historical Society stated.

Click here to donate toward saving the Mulkey-Loggins house.