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The Jarvies House


About the House

 

133 Bates Street, Keller Texas


The Jarvies Home reopened on October 7th, 2014 as
the Wild Rose Heritage Center.
We are open Friday - Sunday from 11 AM 'til 3 PM.

Special events and meetings may be scheduled by calling (817)562-8801 during business hours or (682)225-4551 at other times.

For more photos and the latest information, got to our Facebook Page.

124 South Main Street, Keller Texas


The Jarvies house at 124 South Main was built in the 1920s for the family of James (Jim) Ernest Jarvies (later Jarvis).Typical of the period, it features hardwood floors, handcrafted woodworking,  a modest fireplace, a comfortable covered front porch, and a sturdy storm cellar just outside the kitchen door.   Jim Jarvies, the youngest child of Thomas Jefferson Jarvies and Annie Frances Lopp of Double Springs, was born in 1895; this farm boy was schooled in nearby Mt. Gilead, but chose a career in business and subsequently enrolled in the Brantley Draughon Business College in Fort Worth.   Upon graduation, he was employed by the First State Bank of Keller.  After military service in World War I, he organized the Smithfield State Bank and in 1920, with Thomas B. White, organized the original Keller State Bank.  


The Jarvies house nurtured families for many years, until purchased as commercial property in the early 1980s. It first served as a multi-business co-op until  1989 when Peggy and Paul Harrison opened  the delicious Cinnamon Sticks Tea Room. When the Harrisons retired in 2003, Kim Wood continued to run Cinnamon Sticks at 124 S Main until 2005 when she moved it to another location. Evie Masters opened Rosemary & Thyme in 2006 and continued the tea room tradition, but closed after only a few years. The house then served several short-lived businesses until a few years ago when Leanne Salinas opened the very well received Texas Harvest Pie Company. The recent closure of Harvest Pie has ended the tenure of this house on Main Street and the next few months will determine whether it can continue to exist at all.    

We hope that you will support our effort to continue the legacy of the Jarvies House.To contribute, go to the donations page.  Thank you!


BUY AN ENGRAVED BRICK!

 

Now that it has been moved to the Old Town Keller Park at 133 Bates Street and a foundation has been constructed for it, we need your help to complete the wiring, plumbing, painting and decorating of the Jarvies House.  Once completed, the Wild Rose Heritage Center will serve as an historic museum filled with the history of the area and also as an information center and meeting place for Keller residents and businesses.  Please help us reach this goal with our Brick by Brick program.  The foundation is planning a pathway and garden patio area around the house created with engraved bricks sponsored by area organizations, businesses, families and individuals.  We will also have a limited amount of antique bricks which were part of the Jarvies house fireplace that are available for engraving to enhance the garden areas and pathways.  This will be a permanent display, lasting forever and seen by many through-out the years.  These bricks can be in honor of, in memory of, celebrating births and lives of, or simply have a family, individual or business name engraved upon them. 

Each brick will have 3 available lines of text with 16 spaces per line including letters, spaces and punctuation.
To order your brick, go to the donations page.


Preparing for the move

 

The foundation spent Sunday,  September 1, 2013 taking the old fireplace and side fence down and Saturday, September 7th detaching the breezeway in preparation for the move to Bates Park.  Board members present, in no particular order, were Lea-Ann Salinas, Paul Harrison, Peggy Harrison, Mark Keel, Cathie Jackson, Earl Jackson and employees on loan from TankWorks and McDonnell Building Materials.  Our special thanks to Mark Keel and all the equipment he brought to bear on this project! A photo gallery may be found here