Stephen Bethel Strawn was born in Giles County, Tennessee, came to Palo Pinto County in 1859 among the first settlers in the region, and married Jane Allen on July 18, 1860. During the Civil War he served in Company B, State Troops, protecting the frontier. He built this house in the mid-1870s and founded the city of Strawn in 1880 to encourage the Texas and Pacific Railway company to build through the area. He was a landowner, rancher, and banker, with interests in local coal mining activities.