Cindy Walker House in Mexia Included on National Trust's 11 Most Endangered Places List

MAY 2, 2024

The Cindy Walker House in Mexia (Limestone County) has been included on this year’s list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation!

Cindy Walker (1917-2006) was a Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter. In her Mexia home, Walker wrote iconic songs like "You Don't Know Me", recorded by Ray Charles, Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and many more. She also wrote "Dream Baby" for Roy Orbison. Regarded by many as one of country music's greatest songwriters, Walker was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in Nashville last month. 

Having been included on our list of Texas’s Most Endangered Places in 2022, the addition of the Cindy Walker House to the 11 Most list follows a consistent pattern of sites graduating from our statewide list to the national list, giving them maximum exposure. We are proud to have provided the Cindy Walker Foundation with preservation guidance and technical support which led to the nomination.

Be sure to check out yesterday’s feature on NPR’s All Things Considered. An old unpublished demo recorded by Cindy Walker called “Tennessee Rain” can be heard in the audio version of the story.

A community event celebrating the announcement of the site's inclusion on the 11 Most list was held at the Cindy Walker House on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Lindsay Liepman, Executive Director of the Cindy Walker Foundation (left) and Preservation Texas's Programs Coordinator Samantha Hunick (right) at the Cindy Walker House.

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