The transfer of the county seat from Matagorda to Bay City occurred with the support of the county's rancher and planter elite, as indicated by the construction of this substantial and stylish California Mission–style house by Jane and Elizabeth Hawkins, granddaughters on their father's side of Matagorda County's foremost sugar planter, James B. Hawkins, and on their mother's side of Matagorda county planter John Rugeley. The Hawkins sisters' house facing the tree-lined boulevard stretch of Avenue G, leading from Courthouse Square south to the site of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway passenger station, reinforced the elite status of the southeast quadrant of Bay City. The brick house is notable for its round-arched front porch, compressed proportions, and low-pitched pyramidal tile roof with overhanging eaves carried on decorative brackets that skim the heads of second-floor windows.