Explore The Ranch

 

Wind art at Rock Lake Ranch

 

Rock Lake Ranch has been enjoyed by many generations of the owner’s family. As sixth generation Texans, they take great pride in the heritage of their land. Named after Rock Lake Creek, this scenic property was once a camping ground for Native Americans drawn to the spring-fed stream that cut through the exposed sandstone. The owner’s great-grandparents arrived to the area around Piedmont in the mid-1850s. By the 1920s, their grandparents, Annie Lee and Johnny Churchwell, maintained a self-sufficient farmstead on the property.

The Writer’s Cottage, a shotgun style home from the early 1900s, originally stood in the Fourth Ward of Houston. Authentically renovated by volunteers and staff of Historic Houston, it was relocated to the ranch in 2005.

The Old Gibbons Creek bridge, an early 20th century steel-truss bridge nicknamed by local residents the “Shanghai Bridge,” once stood a few miles away. Abandoned in the 1980s, it was moved and restored in 2009 and provides a scenic approach to the Waterfront Pavilion and other outdoor areas at Rock Lake Ranch.

The Allen House and wooden barn area as well as the old well house and cistern where Annette and Jerry’s grandparents original farmhouse once stood are still a part of the landscape at Rock Lake Ranch.

With its rich family heritage and inspirational beauty, Rock Lake Ranch is the perfect place to experience old history and to start new traditions.