MARION COUNTY HISTORICAL MARKERS
A - F
Alley-Carlson House
Address: 501 Walker St.
Architect: Unknown Architectural Style: GREEK REVIVAL
County: Marion City: Jefferson
Narrative: The Alley-Carlson House is a good example of the mid- nineteenth century,
Vernacular Greek Revival architecture that can be found in Jefferson, Texas. The
residence, which is approximately forty-four feet by forty-eight feet, has a five-bay
composition on the main facade (south elevation). The centrally placed main entrance has
French, two panel, double wood doors with sidelights and a transom. On either side of the
doorway are two six-over-six light windows with wooden lintels and large cornices.
Covering the entrance is a tetrastyle portico with Greek Doric order capitals. One of the
two windows on each side of the house is adjacent to the main doors and looks onto the
portico. All windows in the main portion of the house have two-panel exterior shutters.
The entire residence has a handsome cornice constructed from wood with a crown and bed
mold. While the roof on the portico is a very low-pitched shed type, those on the rest of
the house are gabled. The main portion of the structure consists of a two room, central
hall block with a rear elf-winy. The shed-roof section in the ell of the main block
appears to, have been constructed at the same time as the main block. A small board and
batten structure at the rear of the main house is connected to the main structure by a
covered breeze-way. This rear structure probably contained an outside kitchen and other
service rooms. Danie1 N. Alley was one of the founders of Jefferson, Texas. His home is
thought to be one of the four oldest in the town. In an effort to stimulate growth toward
the hill and away from the wharf and business district, Alley offered land for the
courthouse and jail then the County of Marion was organized in 1860. The county accepted
the offer in 1869 and the courthouse was finished 1874 and all unsold lots were returned
to Alley. The Alley family moved in the house in 1859. It has remained the residence of
some member of the family since that time. Although modern conveniences have been aclded
through the years, the house has remained basically as it was first constructed and
furnished. Many of the antiques were brought from New Orleans by steamboat. In 1966 it was
designated a historic landmark by the Texas State Historical Survey Committee.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
Alley-McKay House
Address: 306 E. Delta St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1986
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Daniel Nelson Alley (1810-68) built this home about 1851. A founder of
Jefferson, Alley was a prominent early landowner in Marion County. Several families owned
the house before 1884, when Hector McKay (1835-93) bought the property. A veteran of the
Civil War, McKay was one of the area's leading attorneys. His son, Arch McKay (1875-1954),
retained ownership of the home until his death. Designed in the Greek revival style, it
features a 4-room central hall plan. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986.
Old Apothecary Shop
Address: 312 E. Broadway St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Relics of H. H. Sedberry, 1859 Jefferson druggist, building restored with
Caddo Lake cypress wood. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.
Atkins House
Address: 407 E. Walker
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1972
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Late Greek revival style house. Probably built in 1860 by T. O. Alley
(1836-1860), son of Daniel N. Alley, co-founder of Jefferson. Over the years other notable
owners have been james M. Tucker (d.1891), steamboatman and captain in 16th Texas
Dismounted Cavalry, Confedereate Army; and W. R. Camp, an attorney. Longest ownership
(1892-1923) was by W. T. Atkins (1842-1930), official of Jefferson Iron Co. House was
acquired in 1961 by Mrs. Nettie Mae Lemmon. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972.
Austin Street Mercantile
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1970
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Location: Austin St., across from Courthouse
Marker Text: Building. Typical of city's heyday as greatest inland port in southwest.
Erected before 1866. Housed offices, grocery, saloon, drugstore. A famous owner was Sallie
Harrison, given this building (1882) on her marriage to C. A. Culberson, later to become
governor and U. S. Senator. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970.
Beard House
Address: 212 N. Vale St.
Architect: Unknown Architectural Style: OTHER
County: Marion City: Jefferson
Narrative: The Beard House is a finely detailed one-story frame Victorian residence
with a low pitched hip roof and attached front and side porches. There is a wide box
cornice and entablature with architrave and frieze divisions, with evenly spaced, tall,
slender scroll brackets. The residence has seven rooms, a central hall and a side hall and
rear wing.double with five horizontal lights in the transom and a fine molding on the
architrave. The present doors appear not to be original. The original doors were probably
narrower and had sidelights. The side door on Vale Street has a carefully detailed classic
door head and dog-ear jambs. The transom is oval and contains a notable six-part carved
ornament. The windows flanking this door have Tudor hood molds flush above their frames.
All the windows in the house have six-over-six lights. There is flush boarding on the
walls under the two porch roofs. The columns are unusual posts, which are in the form of a
Greek cross in section, and are underscaled in relation to the broad mass of the house.
The capitals of these slender columns repeat the brackets of the frieze. The Beard House
is particularly outstanding for its architechture: it is one of the finest residences in
Jefferson, and it has been cited by the United States Department of the Interior as
possessing exceptional historic and architectural interest. House plans are recorded in
the Library of Congress. The Beard House is located on property originally all part of the
Allen Urquhart Survey. The property changed hands several times before Noble A. Birge
bought it in 1861 from William Perry, builder of the Excelsior Hotel. Deed records
indicate that Birge, a prominent merchent and civic leader, built the house about 1860.
Records on the architect and builder of the home are not available, however. Mrs. James I.
Peters bought the house in 1955 with the intention of restoring it. Latest owners of the
house are the Jesse Dewares. Basically the house is as Birge built it, and only one owner,
a Mary Goetzman, has made significant additions. In 1900 she added the present kitchen
extension on the east side. Otherwise, the original floor plan is intact, and the exterior
architecture remains unchanged. A black porch has been glassed in, but floors, doors,
windows, shutters, and all hardware are as they were when first installed. Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark 1966. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER.
Beard House
Address: Vale and Henderson St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Built 1860 with kitchen detached, in custom of Old South. Represents cottage
type. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
Early Site of Bell Factory
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: SH 49 and FM 729, 4 mi. from Jefferson
Marker Text: From a log blacksmith shop in 1854 grew a bell foundry owned by G. A. Kelly
which manufactured cowbells widely used by pioneer ox-team freighters. Later the Kelly
plow, one of the first modern plows made in Texas, was manufactured here.
Homesite of Barry Benefield
Address: 909 Line St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1984
Marker Text: (May 12, 1877 - Sept. 22, 1971) Born while Jefferson was a dominant East
Texas city, Barry Benefield learned well the character and lore of this region while
working at his father's wagon yard, located beside this 1860s house the family had
purchased in 1897. Upon his graduation from the University of Texas, Benefield became a
journalist and later a novelist. Two of his works, "Chicken Wagon Family" (1925)
and "Valiant Is the Word for Carrie" (1935), were made into movies and gave
international fame to Jefferson. In retirement, Benefield again lived in this house until
his death at the age of 94.
Bluebonnett Farm
County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Raised cottage; begun in 1847. Main wing, built 1869, is of heart pine cut on
the home place. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
Doyle Bower House
Address: 1005 S. Line St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Typical of early Texas. Constructed with square nails and pegs. Built in 1858
by Haye Zolley. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
The Brooks House
Address: 208 Vale St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1971
Marker Text: Built 1872 in Victorian style, with long galleries, bay window, 4 gables.
Then a hotel, it became famous when guest "Diamond Bessie" Moore was killed west
of town at a picnic in 1877. Fellow guest Abe Rothchild, cited for murder, was freed after
sensational trial-- later subject of a drama.
Brown Building
Address: 112 N. Vale
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Old home of Jefferson "Jimplecute" and other newspapers, and the
Chesterfield Social Club. Now Brown Building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
Brown Building
Address: 112 N. Vale
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Old home of Jefferson "Jimplecute" and other newspapers, and the
Chesterfield Social Club. Now Brown Building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
Christ Episcopal Church
Address: Main and Taylor St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: 1868. Parish instituted 1860. Rev. E. G. Benners first resident clergyman
(1869-1894). Gothic architecture, lancet windows, scroll beams. Recorded Texas Historic
Landmark - 1964.
William Clark Residence
Address: 201 Henderson
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1981
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: The original two rooms of this house, located in the back, are believed to
have been built before 1852 by Jefferson's founder Allen Urquhart (1792-1866). Three
rooms, constructed in the front, were joined to the earlier structure by William Clark
(1848-1928), a local merchant who bought the house in 1885. A Presbyterian, Clark served
as postmaster and county judge and in 1901 became the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge in
Texas. He lived here for 43 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981.
Confederate Civil War Meat Packing Plant
Address: Walnut and Polk (SH 49)
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Text: About 2 miles to the southwest, the meat plant of J. B. Dunn dressed,packed
and shipped beef, pork and mutton to the Confederate army. In 1861 began by packing 150
beeves a day. Well located, on the Cypress Bayou shipping route, with cattle in trailing
distance, in east and north Texas. Herds were bought at $20 to $40 a head. Used 42-gallon
wooden barrels. Filled these with meat and brine. Obtained salt from New Iberia, La., and
elsewhere through the Confederate government. Yet even with use of preservative salt,
bloody water was sometimes found in the packed meat. The army complained it was made to
accept this, though regular customers would have rejected it. The greater portion of
cattle went out of Texas on the hoof, to be served as fresh meat after being slaughtered
in the army camp. So much beef, pork, mutton, grain, sugar, salt, peas, beans, flour and
corn meal was shipped away that Texas became known as the breadbasket of the Confederacy.
Supplying of food was only one part of the Texas war effort, which included yielding her
cotton crops as currency to buy guns and ammunition and other goods, and sending her mean
and horses into the fight.
Texas Statesman Charles Allen Culberson
Address: Courthouse lawn (Polk and Austin St.)
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: One of Texas' most forceful leaders; 32 years in office as attorney general,
governor, U. S. Senator. Born in Alabama; in childhood moved with parents to Texas. Lived
in Jefferson 1861-1887. Was educated Virginia Military Institute, University of Virginia.
Began practice of law in Jefferson, 1877, in firm of his father, United States Congressman
D. B. Culberson. He moved to Dallas 1887. Won elections as attorney general, 1890 and
1892. In this office recovered for Texas more than 2,000,000 acres of public domain
illegally claimed by railroads. He also gave strong support to reforms of Gov. James S.
Hogg, notably in antitrust laws, and creation of Railroad Commission. In two terms as
governor (1895-1899), was famous for vigorous law enforcement and a strong fiscal policy
which reduced state expenses. Although known as "veto governor," he was able to
show Legislature and the people the justice of his vetoes. Elected to the United States
Senate, 1898; became Senate Minority Leader, 1907, and was considered for the presidency,
1908, by National Democratic Party. Chief Senate service was on Judiciary Committee, of
which he was chairman, 1913-1919. Retired in 1922. Died in Washington. Is buried in Fort
Worth.
David Culberson Home
Address: 403 N. Walnut St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Text: Noted Attorney David B. Culberson (1830-1900) built this Greek revival
residence on land he purchased in 1880. Readily available cypress wood was used in
construction. Culberson served as state senator and representative and as U. S.
Congressman. He was married to Eugenia Kimbal (1837-1895). One of their sons, Charles A.
Culberson (1855-1925), was governor of Texas from 1895 to 1899 and later U. S. Senator.
The Stutz family owned this house for over 50 years.
Vernon Dalhart
Address: 123 W. Austin St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1981
Marker Text: (April 6, 1881 - September 15, 1948) Born in Jefferson, Vernon Dalhart
(Marion Try Slaughter II) began his career here at Kahn Saloon, starred later in operas in
New York, and recorded for Edison's talking machine. His rendition of "The Prisoner's
Song" (1924) was the first folk ballad to sell over a million records, and led to the
rise of country music as an American art form. Dalhart is said to have made over 3,500
records, many under assumed names. Nostalgia for Jefferson echoed in his
"Caroline," "Bully of the Town," and other hits. Within ten years he
earned and lost a fortune, later living in obscurity. Incise in base: Marker sponsored by
the Hoblitzelle Foundation.
Alice Emmert Home
Address: 408 E. Jefferson
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1974
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Built about 1868 in late Greek revival style by George B. Draper. Victorian
elements were added by later owners before 1898, when the house was purchased by Alice
Emmert (1866-1925). Miss Emmert, who was one of the first women elected to public office
in Texas, served as county superintendent of education, 1908-20. Claudia Taylor (Mrs.
Lyndon B. Johnson) lived here, 1924-26, while attending school. The structure is still
owned by an Emmert heir. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974.
Epperson-McNutt House
Address: 409 S. Alley St.
Architect: Unknown Architectural Style: OTHER
County: Marion City: Jefferson
Narrative: This story frame Italian Villa. is one of the few houses of its type in
the region. It is an excellent example of the transitory period between the Creek Revival
.and the Victorian styles. The main house is approximately fifty and a half feet by the
entry seven and a half feet. The servants' quarters is approximately seventeen feet by
twentyseven and-a half feet and is connected to the main block at the right of inherent
facade. The main (east) facade has a five bay composition. The main entrance has a
segmentalarched opening, double doors, an elaborate transom and sidelights. The four
flanking windows on the main facade have nine- over-nine lights and extend to the floor. A
one story porch extends across the width of the building. All windows on the second floor
have round-arched openings and decorative muntins. A five-sided bay extends on the south
side of the structure with three windows on each level. The cupola which surmounts the
nearly flat standing seam, tin roof has three round headed windows on each side, a
balistrated widows walk, and a fine bracketed cornice. The cupola is surmounted by a
wooden finial. The three windows on each of the four sides of the cupola have different
colored glass which give the house its name. The blue glass represents winter, the green
glass depicts spring, the yellow glass is for summer, and the red glass denotes fall. The
open hall well rises from the ground floor to the top of the coupola gving a rotunda and
dome-like appearance. The floor plan of the house has a central hall with two rooms on
each side. The drawing room and opening in the floor below the cupola feature some fine
frescos. There are four Italian marble mantels on the fireplaces. Benjamin H. Epperson was
born in Mississippi in 1826. He attended Princeton University for a while, then studied
law in Clarksville, Texas, and was admitted to the bar. After serving as a state
legislator he was defeated as the Whig candidate for governor. As was true of many
southern Whigs, Epperson supported the Union cause until the war began and then turned his
loyalty to Texas after all possibility of keeping the state from secession had failed.
After the Civil War Epperson was the state's legal and financial representative in a case
which resulted in one of the most important Supreme Count decisions of our historyTexas
vs. White. While the facts of the case concerned some bonds that the state had conferred
to White during the Civil War, the implications were much larger. The decision of the
Court was that the Federal Union was not dissolvable and, therefore, a state did not have
the right of secession; thus, legally making the Civil War an act of rebellion on the part
of the Confederate states. Epperson's part in the drama of Reconstruction did not end
here. He was elected to the United States House of Resentatives in 1867 but was refused
his seat by the Republican Congress. The following year he was a delegate to the National
Democratic Convention in New York City, often called the Arm-in-Arm Convention. In 1871
Epperson moved to Jefferson to practice law. In addition to his legal practice he was a
state representative and promoter and early president of the Memphis, E1 Paso and Pacific
Railroad (later the Texas and Pacific). His second wife and five children survived him
after his death in 1878. In 1965 the Epperson McNutt house was designated a historic
landmark by the Texas State. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
Excelsior Hotel
Address: Austin St., between Market and Vale Sts.
Architect: Unknown Architectural Style:
CLASSICAL REVIVAL
County: Marion City: Jefferson
Narrative: The northeast wing of the Excelsior Hotel, which constructed around 1858,
is in the Classical Revival style It is similar to many mid century road-side inns built
in other sections of the country. The two-story frame section. is thirty-four feet wide
and seventy- one feet wide. The walls are seven inches thick. On the northeast (rear)
elevation there is a roofed balcony a wood railing which extends the full length of the
building. When the front door to the original hotel was replaced in 1954, it was moved
approximately ten feet to the southwest. The doorway opening onto the garden appears to be
original. The doors, which appear to date from the last quarter of the nineteenth century,
are double with four panels below and two panels above a large panel of glass. The
original wood windows were double-hung six-over-six lights.A solarium was created in 1954
by glazing between the columns under the north corner of the balcony. The glass its all
fixed-pane consisting of three-over-four lights and six-over-four lights. The hipped roof
has a standing-seam, sheet-metal covering and a twelve inch overhang. The construction of
the cornice is simple, consisting of a plain frieze, facia, and beveled crown- molding.
The first floor of this original building has a central corridor with guest rooms off a
rear corridor. Walls and ceilings are plastered throughout this section of the building.
Every room has a wainscoting which varies in height and design. The southwestwind was
added in 1872. This two- story brick section is aproximately thirty feet by one- hundred
feet. The walls are eighteen inches thick. A three-and- ahalf foot high parapet wall
screens the hipped roof. There are two-panel French doors in rectangular openings. There
are four openings across the Austin Street facade of the brick section of the hotel. On
the second floor of this elevation, there is a central doorway with a single door,
sidelights, a transom, and one window on each side of the door. The door opens onto the
upper of the porch with cast-iron posts and balustrade which extends across the Austin
Street elevation of both the 1858 and 1872 buildings. The ground floor contains a lobby,
museum, ballroom, and dining room. The second floor has a central hall on either side of
which are quest rooms. There were apparently nineteen guest rooms when the building was
constructed. Each chamber was approximately nine feet by ten feet with a small fireplace,
the hearth of which was one-and-three- fourths feet wide by two feet high. There were
nineteen chimneys for these fireplaces. On the first floor of this section, the walls are
plastered except in the ballroom where the walls are finished with stamped-metal paneling.
There is a wood wainscotting in all the first floor rooms. The original walls on the
second floor were one inch by thirteen inch boards installed vertically the one inch by
three inch battens. The courtyard, or ,garden, created by the ell arrangement of the
buildings was landscaped in 1954; this included. brick paving and a fountain. The
fountain, probably nineteeth century, is a cast iron piece of garden sculpture with female
figures around the base and a large basin above. The scene of much of the past
ofJefferson, Texas is closely associated with the Excelsior Hotel, which began operations
in the 1850's. During Jefferson's more prosperous days, many famous people stayed there.
Among them were two presidents, Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B, Hayes; financiers John
Jacob Astor, Jay Gould, and W.E. Vanderbilt; and playwrightar Oscar Wilde. The hotel has
remained in continuous operation since it first opened which makes it one of the oldest
establishments of its kind to still be in business. It has been restored and now serves as
a hotel and museum run by the Jessie Allen Wise Carden Club presently own the building In
1966 it was designated a historic landmark by the Texas State Historical Survey Commitee.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER.
Excelsior House
Address: Vale St. and Austin
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Oldest hotel in East Texas. Frame part built in 1850s; brick wing added 1864.
Among famous guests during river port days of Jefferson were Presidents Grant and Hayes,
and poet Oscar Wilde. Restored 1961-63 by Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club. Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark - 1966.
Falling Leaves, 1855
Address: 304 E. Jefferson St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: To original 4 rooms and hall, long ell was added in 1866. Home of Eloise
Amoss 62 years. B. Koontz home since 1961. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.
Old Federal Building
Address: 107 Vale St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: 1869. First Federal Court and Custom House. Also housed county court and its
records. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.
Old Federal Court and Post Office Building
Address: 223 Austin St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Used 1890-1964 by Court of Eastern District of Texas. Now a museum. Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.
The Figures House
Address: 407 E. Jefferson St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1973
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: A typical East Texas Greek revival cottage, built in 1850s by Bartholomew
Figures, who had been a local innkeeper. His son, James C. Figures, was later one of the
many short-term owners. Mrs. Mary Eglentine Whitfield (1852-1941), a dressmaker, owned and
occupied the structure, 1883-1928. Members of J. H. Benefield's family were
owner-landlords, 1936-70. In 1970, it was sold to Mrs. Tommie Wurtsbaugh Glick, an artist,
who has restored it. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973.
First Baptist Church of Jefferson
Address: 523 N. Polk
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Text: Organized in 1855 as the Missionary Baptist Church, this congregation chose
the Rev. George B. Tucker as its first pastor. Worship services were originally held in
the Union House at city park, Freeman Hall, Judge Patillo's schoolhouse, and the Methodist
and Presbyterian churches. The Rev. D. B. Culberson (1796-1862) served as the second
pastor, 1857-1859. He was the father of Congressman David B. Culberson (1830-1900) and
grandfather of Governor Charles A. Culberson (1855-1925). The fellowship erected a
two-story brick church building on this property in 1869. It was the meeting place in May
1874 of the Southern Baptist Convention, with over 1000 in attendance. It was also the
site of an 1877 revival led by Evangelist William E. Penn, a member of this congregation.
In 1898 the fellowship split. Pat of the members formed Howelltown Baptist Church; the
remainder continued to worship in the brick church until about 1917. The Howelltown
congregation adopted the name Central Baptist in 1924. After the two groups reunited in
1937 as the First Baptist Church, members restored and reoccupied the 1869 structure. When
it burned in 1944, a new church was erected. Educational facilities were added in 1951 and
1973.
Site of First Ice Factory in Texas
Address: SH 49
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: 2 mi. west of Jefferson
Marker Text: Blackburn Syrup Works
First Methodist Church
Address: Henderson and Market St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Marker Text: Founded on this site, 1844. Rev. Jas. Baldridge, first pastor. Log church was
replaced 1860 by most imposing brick one west of Mississippi River. Its bell, minted of
1500 Mexican silver dollars, now is in this building erected 1884. Recorded Texas Historic
Landmark - 1965.
First National Bank of Jefferson
Address: Jefferson Square (Polk and Lafayette St.)
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1981
Marker Text: Thomas J. Rogers (1832-1918), a native of Mississippi, came to Jefferson in
1856. After serving in the Civil War, where he attained the rank of captain, he returned
here and in 1868 established a mercantile business in this block. In partnership with his
son Ben F. Rogers, he opened private banking facilities in the store in 1896. Eight years
later the private bank received a Federal charter, as the Rogers National Bank. Following
the death of his father, Ben opened the Rogers State Bank and Trust at another site in
this block. It closed in 1928 and was succeeded by the Jefferson Bank and Trust. Later
incorporated as the Jefferson State Bank, it remained in operation until 1932. The
Commercial National Bank, started in 1907, was also located here until 1920. During the
economic depression of the 1930s, the Rogers National Bank remained sound. It was one of
the first institutions to reopen without a special examination after President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's 1933 closing of the nation's banks. A reorganization in 1950 resulted in the
formation of the First National Bank of Jefferson. The present facility, constructed on
the site of the original bank, is modeled after T. J. Rogers' building.
First Texas Artificial Gas Plant
Address: Lafayette and Market St.
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Jefferson Gas Light Company, chartered 1870 for public ;and domestic service,
used retorts-- 7 foot iron drums with small necks-- to make illuminating gas. (One retort
stood on this site.) Loaded with pine knots and rich pine wood, a retort was heated; its
gas was forced into mains by use of a pressure drum. Street lights on hollow posts, 300
feet apart, were 10-candle glass globes, lighted by a man on a ladder. These and gaslights
in houses gave Jefferson-- then largest inland port and second largest city in Texas-- the
state's first gaslight system.
Freeman Plantation
City: Jefferson County: Marion
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Location: 1 mi. west of Jefferson on SH 49 (watch for sign)
Marker Text: This Greek revival plantation home was built about 1850 by Williamson M.
(1807-66) and Drucilla (1812-65) Freeman for their children. A cotton and sugar cane
planter, Freeman also operated a river freighting business. Materials use din construction
of the house include hand-hewn timbers and brick made on the site. In the 1870s the
residence was sold to R. E. Rowell (1826-1900), a former Confederate doctor, who later
served as county treasurer. A rear wing was added to the home during the ownership of
oilman L. S. Flannery (d. 1961), who purchased the property in 1937. Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark - 1965.
Freeman Plantation House
Address: 0.8 mi. W of Jefferson on TX 49
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: GREEK REVIVAL
County: Marion City: Jefferson
Narrative: The Freeman Plantation House is an excellent Greek Revival raised cottage,
showing evidence of a very strong Louisiana influence. This structure has been cited by
the United States Congress for historical and architectural interest. Built around 1850,
this plantation house has a brick basement that is a full story above the ground. The
principal chambers are contained, in piano nobile fashion, in the one-story wooden level
above the basement. The original house has a central hall plan with four large chambers on
each floor. In the basement the hall was originally open to the exterior on both the north
and south elevations. In recent years the lower hall has been enclosed. Woodwork and
interior detailing in this lower, service area is very simple.
The large, hand-hewn (4 inch by 14 inch) timbers supporting the principal floor are
exposed. There is a fireplace in each chamber on both floors. A single-string stair rises
on the east wall of the central hall. The central hall in the upper level is divided into
a front and rear hall by a finely carved, segmental arched wood screen. The chambers to
the east and west of the front hall are separated from the hall by paneled, folding doors.
These doors with their precisely mitered frames represent some of the finest nineteenth
century wood craftsmanship in Texas. The doorframes throughout the upper level are a Greek
Revival design with a shallow pedimented head, dog-ear details at the meeting of the jambs
and head, and wide fascia boards (covering the jambs) with a finely molded edge and a
gradual flair at the base of the doorway.
The woodwork throughout the four chambers; mantels, cornices, window and door frames,
chair rails, maintain this level of excellence in wood craftsmanship. The main entrance
has a Greek Revival doorway with solid, paneled double doors, five-light sidewindows, and
a five-light transom. A fine, deeply carved molding, similar to the interior doorway
described above, also enhances this doorway. The rear entrance has a very similar
composition. The principal, or north, elevation has a broad flight of stairs rising to the
tetra-style portico which is supported by two-story, circular brick columns. The overly
massive columns are stucco covered, without capitals, and are crudely tappered at the top.
The portico is flanked by small, strange, shed roofed balconies. The north elevation's
four, six-over-six light, windows with operable wooden panels below open onto the portico
and balconies. The exterior wall finish on all elevations is clapboarding above the brick
basement. There are corner pilasters with capitals. The structure is topped with a fine
entablature including box cornice, crown and bed molds, and a division between the
architrave and frieze. The house and portico are covered with a shallow hipped roof. A
two-story wing has been added to the rear of the structure. This wing contains bathrooms,
dressing rooms, and additional chambers. The structure is in an excellent state of repair.
William M. Freeman bought the land and began building his plantation home in 1850. His
slaves cut the timber, shaped the lumber, and molded and baked the brick on the
plantation. The wooden beams which extend the full length of the building to suport the
structure are fourteen by fourteen inches square. Freeman was engaged in several business
ventures. He was one of the founders of the East Texas Manufacturing Company, which
manufactured cotton and woolen goods, spinning thread, and other fabric goods. Besides his
cotton plantation he also owned several warehouses on the waterfront and one freight boat.
The Freeman's entertained extensively in their plantation home. Jenny Lind once gave a
concert and Jesse James is rumored to have sought refuge there. During the Civil War many
Lousiana friends visited for weeks at a time to escape the battle zones near their homes.
Recent owners have worked diligently to restore the house in the same style it was
originally done, retaining many of the original pieces of furniture. In 1965 it was
designated a historic landmark by the Texas State Historical Survey Committee.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER
This information was extracted from the Texas Historical Commission web site.