Copperas Cove Marks 147th Birthday With Free Allin House Celebration March 28

The City of Copperas Cove and the Copperas Cove Historical Society are set to host a 147th birthday celebration Saturday, March 28, at 11 a.m. at the Allin House. The event is at the home located at 401 N. Main St. and admission is free.

Mayor Dan D. Yancey declared through a proclamation that March 25, 2026 is "The City of Copperas Cove's 147th Birthday." Kelly Rios, president of the Copperas Cove Historical Society, accepted the proclamation on the city's behalf when it was announced March 17.

The celebration will include a reading of a city proclamation, storytelling, and refreshments including birthday cake and cookies, and organizers are encouraging attendees to embrace the spirit of the late 19th century by wearing era-appropriate attire. Community members will close out the gathering by singing "Happy Birthday" in honor of the city's founding.

The Allin House is woven tightly into the city's founding story. Jouett Allin was born in Kentucky in 1868, and Emma Barker was born in Chicago in 1865. Allin moved to Copperas Cove when he was just 17, around 1882, and several years later Barker relocated from Wisconsin after her father obtained a land patent from the state. The two married in Copperas Cove in 1890. The Texas Historical Marker at the site notes that Jouett arrived in Texas at age 17 and worked for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad before the couple settled permanently in Copperas Cove.

The Allins built their first home in 1913, the same year Jouett Allin was elected as the first mayor of Copperas Cove and the city became incorporated. The population stood at 600 residents that year and peaked at 650 in 1929. The home they built at 401 N. Main St., designed by Temple architect H. D. Pampel, is recognized by the state as an excellent example of the craftsman style, featuring a bungalow plan with a three-bay front porch, box columns, a gable roof, and a Palladian window.

Beyond the mayoralty, Jouett Allin served as a banker, city alderman, landowner, and held leadership roles in area Masonic lodges. Emma Barker Allin worked as an attorney and schoolteacher and was well known as a church, civic, and social leader. Both are interred in the Copperas Cove city cemetery. The city approved a 10-year lease for the Allin House with the Copperas Cove Historical Society, at $10 per year, after the two parties had been in talks since early 2023 on how the organization could use the home for historical education and events.

The "City Built for Family Living" has long been a motto of Copperas Cove, and families have been making it their home since the city was founded on March 25, 1879. Copperas Cove is nestled in the southern corner of Coryell County, and the community was once known to Central Texas pioneers as the Five Hills. It now serves a population of more than 41,000 residents.