The house was built by Professor William J. Hancock of Aberdeen, Mississippi, in 1852 after he arrived in Bastrop to become headmaster at the Bastrop Academy, one of the leading schools in Texas at the time.

Sam Houston, a hero of the Texas Revolution, was a frequent guest of the Allens while his sons attended the institute.

John Preston Fowler and Maud Maynard Fowler bought the property in 1876 and added Victorian detailing and a projecting bay window to the structure.

Fowler became mayor of Bastrop, county attorney, and a Texas state senator.

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