Waddill-Morris Homesite

Kentucky native Judge R.L. Waddill (1811-1865) came to McKinney with his stepson, George Shackelford Morris, in 1853, five years after the town had been established as the Collin county seat. The two men bought large tracts of land in town, built a home, and then brought the remainder of the family to settle in McKinney. The family included Judge Waddill's wife, Sarah, and their children R.L., Joe, Ben, Gaston, and Fannie. During the late 1850s, Judge Waddill made a major contribution to the field of education in McKinney by erecting a schoolhouse in his backyard and hiring a teacher from Bethany College in West Virginia to teach the children in the area. Waddill had a law practice in town and served as district judge, riding his circuit on horseback, from 1860 until his death in 1865. This home was constructed for the Waddill-Morris family after a fire destroyed their original house. George S. Morris, who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War and later studied law, served as a deputy county clerk in McKinney and as administrator of the Waddill-Morris Estate. This house has remained in the family for more than one hundred years. (1985)

Waddill-Morris Homesite is a historical marker in McKinney, Collin County, dedicated in 1985. It is one of 193 historical markers documented in Collin County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 345 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 33.2006, -96.6176 near McKinney. The nearest cataloged historic site is Waddill, R. L., House (historic place), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include First United Methodist Church of McKinney, Hoard, Dr. William Taylor, House, and Brown, John R., House.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5085006217. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.