The Conservation Society purchased the home of noted author William Sidney Porter, or “O. Henry,” in 1959. The sale price of one dollar included responsibility for moving the adobe house from its site at 904 South Presa Street within 60 days to save the building from demolition. Although the Society considered many sites (including adjacent to the German English School and next to the Eager House), the Society selected the grounds of the Lone Star Brewery.
In 1960, the Lone Star Brewery purchased the O. Henry House from the Conservation Society for one dollar. Mary Friedrich Rogers and her husband, Wallace Rogers, later purchased the house as a part of the Buckhorn Museum collection when the brewery closed in 1997. The following year, David Carter and MLP Partnership bought the O. Henry House. The historic structure was relocated from the old Lone Star Brewing Company site to the corner of Laredo and Dolorosa. In May of 1999, the restored O. Henry House reopened to the public as a museum.