Hood County News – November 30, 1996
The Hannaford House at 126 S. Lambert St. was built in 1881 by Edwin Augustus “Doc” Hannaford, Granbury’s first pharmacist.
“Doc” Hannaford was born in England and came to the U.S. and settled in Hamilton, Ohio in 1844. When the Civil War broke out, Hannaford enlisted in the 6th Ohio Volunteers. He found the hot, dry Texas climate appealed to him when he was sent to Texas near the end of the war.
In 1871, Granbury was approved by local voters as the county seat of Hood County and a crude log cabin courthouse was built. Lots in the new town were up for sale. “Doc” Hannaford was stranded 20 miles away in Cleburne trying to find a horse to ride to Granbury and because Cleburne residents were preparing for a big horse race, no one would rent him a horse.
Hannaford set out for Granbury on foot, wading across the Brazos River while carrying a large sum of gold in a pouch.
He bought two lots on the square, then hired a wagon and drove to Fort Worth for supplies: a tent, cot, hammer, nails, lumber and a small stock of drugs.
He set up his tent on the lots in Granbury and built wood shelves which to display the drugs. His tent-drug store also functioned as his home for some time.
“Doc” Hannaford later built a native limestone drugstore on the west side of the square. It’s still standing today and now houses an antique shop.
In 1878, “Doc” Hannaford married Nettie Brous and in 1881 they built the two-story porticoed Hannaford House.
The gabled Hannaford House, once surrounded by a tennis court, greenhouse, rose garden and stables that reflected Hannaford’s prominence in the community, sits elegantly back from the street.
“Doc” Hannaford’s drug store in Granbury was very successful and it remained on the square for more than 42 years. “Doc” was known as one of Granbury’s town fathers because of his many contributions to the community. Hannaford and four other merchants built the first area bridge (for $25,000) across the Brazos River and greatly improved transportation in Granbury. He was also on the board of trustees of Granbury High School and Granbury College.
Although Hannaford served in the Union Army during the Civil War, a group of Granbury’s Confederate veterans served as honorary pallbearers at his funeral in 1915.
“Doc” Hannaford and his wife had five children. Mrs. Hannaford died in 1938 and their daughter Bess and her husband Otho Lanham lived there until 1970 when Bess died. The house has been sold four times since Mr. Lanham’s death.
The Hannaford House is a transitional Greek Revival structure featuring Victorian flourishes, such as narrow Victorian and octagonal windows crowned by arched wood moldings. Like many of Granbury’s early homes, the exterior wood siding is cypress from East Texas.
The Hannaford House is owned by the Calhoun family. They have restored the stately 19th-century home and have done all the restoration work themselves.
Hannaford House received a Texas Historical Marker, designating it as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.