The Bastrop Academy opened in 1851 with Prof. William J. Hancock of Aberdeen, Mississippi as headmaster. He arrived in early 1852 and built this house for his family and student boarders. The Academy became the Bastrop Military Institute in 1857, with Colonel R.T.P. Allen replacing Hancock. Col. Allen and his wife Julia moved into this home and continued to rent out the back wing for boarding cadets. Sam Houston, whose sons were cadets at the Institute, was a guest of the Allens. County attorney and later state senator John Preston Fowler bought the property in 1876. Fowler added elaborate jigsawn detailing and a projecting bay window to this two-story modified L-plan house with first and second story galleries. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2008