Built beginning in 1834 by English immigrant Henry Fanthorp, Fanthorp Inn stood at the crossroads of major roads linking Houston, Nacogdoches, and points north and west, and it functioned as a multi-purpose waystation for the Republic and early state of Texas. Its original everyday use combined lodging, food, and stabling for travelers and stagecoach passengers with the operations of a tavern and general stopping place for the surrounding community; by around 1850 the building had grown to roughly eighteen rooms to accommodate demand. Henry Fanthorp was also appointed postmaster in 1835, so the inn simultaneously served as the local post office, making it a hub for mail, news, and commerce as well as travel. Its guest registry reflected its role as a crossroads institution, hosting Republic of Texas president Sam Houston more than a dozen times, along with other notable figures such as Anson Jones; Vice President Kenneth Anderson died at the inn, prompting the surrounding community to be renamed Anderson in his honor. After passing out of active use, the property was acquired by the state in 1977 and restored based on historical and archaeological research. Today Fanthorp Inn functions as a Texas Historical Commission historic site and house museum, with furnished rooms and guided tours that interpret its original roles as inn, tavern, stagecoach stop, and post office for visitors rather than serving any of those functions in practice.