Originally built on property that was part of a Mexican land grant awarded to Enrique Villareal in 1831, this house was constructed for Walter Merriman in 1851. Merriman, a lawyer, had moved to Corpus Christi from Illinois shortly after his marriage to Lucy Anna Kinney in 1846. A prominent lawyer, land developer, and businessman in Corpus Christi, Merriman also was an early member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. By 1870, he had sold his house and moved to Indianola to practice law.
The house was owned by rancher John Rabb of Banquete during the years surrounding the Civil War. Dr. Eli T. Merriman used it as a hospital facility during the war and during the 1867 yellow fever epidemic. The property passed to Rabb's daughter, Martha, in 1878, and then went through a series of owners, during which time the house was used as a residence, a meeting place for the local poetry society, as a party house, and as rental property.
Originally located at 801 South Upper Broadway, the Merriman house was moved to this site in 1982 to ensure its preservation. One of few remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in Corpus Christi, it features a central hall plan with three side gables.
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