The Bridge Street History Center

Posted March 4, 2026
Introduction By Melinda Jo Ray

Greetings Readers and Friends!

Welcome to a blog dedicated to doing the very thing our mission statement describes – sharing the stories of the people, places and events of our local past. As the writer of five books on this subject, I combined my love of history and of this place where I live with my passion for education and storytelling and the research skills acquired as a career teacher and librarian. Now this new project brings the opportunity to continue that journey. Now I look forward to sharing a delightfully wide variety of true stories about the people and events that made a difference here – from the early days of pioneer settlement through the nearly 175 years of change and growth since then. “Nutts about Hood County History” will strive to introduce you to some of the lesser- known people and aspects of our county’s quintessentially American story while not neglecting to share some of the little-known stories about some folks you’ve probably already heard of. There may even be a few tales featuring some really famous people with connections to our story that most people today have never heard about. Throw in a good mystery or two and I think we can all have a great time together!

So check back here each week and spend a little time with me poking around to see what went on around here in those “days gone by”. You just never know who we might meet up with – Wanderin’ round the Hood!

THIS HOUSE WE CALL HOME
A History of the David Lee Nutt Family Home.
By Melinda Jo Ray 

This house the Bridge Street History Center calls home was never “just a house”. It was built as, and always will be – in one way or another, a Home. This historic photograph shows an early Granbury home with a windmill and large wraparound porch, typical of residential architecture in Hood County during the late nineteenth century.

David Lee Nutt, the man whose family built this house 1879 and lived in and loved it for over 120 years, was the youngest child of one of Hood County’s earliest pioneer families. He and his three brothers, Jesse, Jacob, and Abel all figure prominently in the story of Granbury and Hood County’s first sixty years of existence. The descendants of these men and their many family members have continued to play active rolls in business and civic leadership in Hood County and Granbury to this day.

David Lee Nutt is perhaps most well-known for his business partnerships with his blind brothers, Jesse and Jacob in the Nutt Bros. Mercantile, and the Nutt Ranch as well as the boarding house/hotel he and his wife Sue Garland (Sudie) Nutt married in 1872 and built this home and lived there from 1879. From the earliest years they boarded students from nearby Granbury College. During those years David Lee also became active in local politics, serving multiple terms on the Granbury city council. He was active in the local Masonic Lodge, and he and Sudie were founding members of the First Methodist Church of Granbury, and they were instrumental in its sponsorship and founding of Granbury College. David and Sudie lived in the house on Bridge Street until their deaths in 1929 and 1920. Their eldest son, Henry Lee Nutt took over both the mercantile and hotel businesses sometime around 1910 inherited the home and he and his wife, Euna Barefoot Nutt lived in the house for the entirety of their lives together and raised their three children there.

Euna Nutt lived for almost twenty years after Henry’s death in 1854. During her final years, aniece, Mary Lou Watkins (daughter of Henry’s sister, Mary Sue) came to live with her. When she came to care for her widowed mother and elderly
aunt, Mary Lou found Euna, the family home, and the family’s grand old hotel on the square all in need of some tender and loving care. And that is exactly what she gave all three. Euna was well cared for at home for the rest of her days, and both the old family home and the grand old Nutt Hotel on the square were in good hands with Mary Lou.

Under Mary Lou’s care the family home received a total renovation, as did the building on the square. Both became vibrant examples of the revitalization of the entire town of Granbury during the 1970’s and 1980’s.