Love Blooms at Flower Hill Center

Join Brush Square Museums Foundation for guided tours of the historic Flower Hill Center and latest news from the O. Henry and Susannah Dickinson Museums.

O. Henry (William S. Porter) married Athol Estes on July 1, 1887 in the Flower Hill front parlor, officiated by Rev. Dr. R.K. Smoot. Will Porter was friend of the Smoots and carved illustrations into wood blocks for the family’s mail order catalogue of Fancy Indian Game Hens.

Flower Hill Center stands as a sanctuary of heritage and innovation in Austin, dedicated to inspiring the community towards a future rich in exploration and creativity. Set against the backdrop of a picturesque historic home and 1.38 acres of beautiful Texas wildscape, the Center includes a collection of three centuries' worth of furnishings, textiles, and texts, complemented by six historic out-buildings, ponds, and rockeries.

The Smoot family homestead grew from a four-room home with an outdoor kitchen, into a fourteen room, four hall, and four porch estate. Flower Hill flourished as a favorite place for relatives, artists, students, professors, and religious leaders, to live, study, and work.

As a nonprofit organization, Flower Hill Center is committed to preserving, interpreting, and making broadly accessible the Historic Homestead, the Museum’s collections, and the 1.38 acres of Texas Landscape. To learn more about visiting or donating, see flowerhillcenter.org or email [email protected]

Will Porter (1862-1910) lived in Austin from 1884 to 1897. These were happy years when he fell in love and married Athol Estes Roach on July 1, 1887 at Flower Hill, home of Rev. Dr. R.K. Smoot. They were a popular couple: members of two church choirs and performed with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

Porter developed his story-telling in his own newspaper The Rolling Stone. Will Porter’s talent as an illustrator let him work several years at the Texas Land Office. He and Athol had a daughter Margaret. Years later, living in New York City, Will Porter adopted the pen-name O.Henry to become the world famous short-story author, writing over 300 stories. He passed away June 5, 1910, not yet age 48.

Host or Publisher Brush Square Museums Foundation