G - L

"Gay 90's House"
Address: 1009 S. Line 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1966 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Drawing room held many social affairs when city was a leading port in Texas. Now J. M. Benefield Home. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.

Jay Gould Railroad Car 
Address: 200 block W. Austin St. 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1995 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Built in 1888 by the American Car & Foundry Company of St. Charles, Missouri, this was the private railway car of Jay Gould (1836-1892). A native of New York, Gould was a noted financier and the owner of numerous railroad companies, including the Union Pacific, The Missouri Pacific, the International & Great Northern, and The Texas Pacific. This car, named "Atlanta," remained in Gould family ownership until the 1930s. Elaborately designed and elegantly furnished, the Atlanta features two observation rooms, four staterooms, two baths, a butler's pantry, kitchen, dining room, and office. Interior materials include mahogany and curly maple woodwork, silver bathroom accessories, and crystal light fixtures. Following Jay Gould's death in 1892, the car was used by his son, George Jay Gould (president of the Texas and Pacific Railroad), and his wife, actress Edith Kingston. The car later was brought to Texas from St. Louis and used as a family residence during the 1930s East Texas oil boom. Purchased in 1953 by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club, it was moved to this site in 1954. It remains a focal point in Jefferson's heritage tourism industry.

Home of Capt. Charles G. Graham 
Address: 409 E. Delta 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1977 
Marker Text: Born in Tennessee, Charles Gibbs Graham (1833-1896) came to Texas in 1843 with his parents. He settled in Jefferson about 1850. During the Civil War (1861-1865), Graham served in the Confederate army, earning the rank of captain, and in 1864 was wounded at the Battle of Mansfield. Married in 1868 to Texanah Harris (1848-1927), he had three sons and one daughter. He became a prominent local merchant and cotton broker and in 1885 built this Victorian residence. In 1977 the structure had been continuously owned and occupied by three generations of the Graham family. Incise in base: Restored in 1973 by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Craver.

Green Hill Presbyterian Church Building 
County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1964 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Location: Off FM 2132 on CR, in Green Hill Community Marker Text: - - -

Guarding Oak 
Address: 301 E. Friou St. 
City: Jefferson     County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1964 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic

Hodge-Taylor House 
Address: Approximately 1 mi. SW of jct. of US 59 and TX 49, W. 
County: Marion      City: Jefferson 
Architectural Style: GREEK REVIVAL Narrative: 
The Hodge-Taylor House, c. 1852, is one of the few remaining examples of early settler houses located in an agrarian setting in Marion County, Texas, approximately 2 1/2 miles west of the center of Jefferson, Texas, on the "Old Daingerfield Road" (Hwy 49W). It is a 1-story classically proportioned Greek Revival center-passage plan house set back from the road approximately 85 feet facing northeast on 1.3 acres along Hwy 49W. The original six room "L" configuration consists of two large rooms on the east and four large rooms on the west that flank a 12'x 36' central passageway. This passageway extends as a porch another 36 feet, along the ell on the west side. The house has been modified only slightly over the years but these modifications have not affected the historic appearance of the main facade. The house demonstrates fine craftsmanship and maintains excellent integrity making it an important example of Greek Revival style in the area. 
The Hodge-Taylor House is a 1-story frame dwelling with 8"x8" and 10"x10" hand hewn framing timbers, notched and pegged, and covered with cypress weatherboard. It sits on brick piers with brick skirting and is composed of rectangular volumes with an intersecting gable with shed and hip roofs. It is detailed with return eves. 
The primary facade (northeast) is a 5-bay A-A-B-A-A composition articulated by a pedimented entrance portico. The portico is noted by its handsome proportions and is supported by Doric columns and pilasters. The entablature continues in a simple band around the house and is visually supported by slim Doric pilasters at the corners. The details are simplified Greek Revival. The entry shelters double doors with side lights and transom and is flanked by 6/6 double hung windows. A concentric square marks the head of the jambs of the primary entry which are beveled and framed. Pilasters support a large cornice with denticulation over the doorway. 
The east elevation is very simply detailed. Four 6/6 windows punctuate the cypress weatherboard siding. Two of these flank an enclosed interior chimney in the rear bedroom. Originally, the other two windows flanked a similar fireplace in the front room; however, the fireplace was removed in the 1950 modification and the second window was moved slightly to the north to allow room for addition of closets. The rear porch which originally was built to set back eight feet from the east elevation was enclosed to form a bathroom. The east end of this room is framed in weatherboard punctuated by a smaller 6/6 window. A generous porch, the width of the central passageway supported by four Doric columns continues along the full length of the rear ell on the east side. Two doors open onto this porch, each exiting one of the two rooms on this side. One 6/6 double hung window punctuates the weatherboard near the south end of this porch. 
The south elevation consists of a portion of the original porch which shelters double doors exiting the center passageway, as well as that portion which was enclosed to form the bath. Another smaller version of the 6/6 windows punctuates the siding on this side of the bath. This porch joins the wider porch and continues along the east side of the ell. A gable supporting the roof over this end of the house extends as a shed roof over the porch. A pair of 6/6 windows punctuate the weatherboard on this side of this portion of the south elevation which is the present day kitchen. 
The west elevation consists of four 6/6 double hung windows that punctuate the weatherboard on this side. Two of these windows flank an enclosed interior chimney in the second room identical to that in the room adjacent to it on the other side of the center passageway. As in the room across the center passageway, a fireplace was removed. This was a minor modification done in 1950 to accommodate the addition of a bath and closet in the southwest corner of the room. The other 6/6 double hung window punctuates the weatherboard in the third room (dining room) and a single pane stationary window was added in the fourth room (the kitchen) of this elevation. Another small window was added in the bath.  
The interior follows the typical center-passage plan flanked by symmetrical rooms, two on each side plus two additional rooms on the west. The entrance hall is generous in size and continues through the house and terminates with double doors exiting to a rear porch the width of the passageway. This porch continues along the west side of an ell and is flanked on this side by the dining room and kitchen. 
Both sets of double doors, as well as the four other doors exiting the central passageway, are framed in a simple yet elegant Greek Revival design with a tapered frame finished with beveled trim extending in a pointed arch over the doorways. Most door jams reveal the concentric square as decorative treatment. The doorways are framed with a simple square finished with a beveled trim in the two rear rooms flanking the hall; and each of these rooms has a fireplace with a Classical mantle. 
Ceilings are 13'8" in height and are of board and batten construction. The ceiling in the kitchen was lowered following a fire in 1970, however, the original ceiling remains intact over the addition. Five of the original oil lamp light fixtures have been electrified and are in use. Modern fixtures have been installed in the other rooms. There are three existing fireplaces in the home; one in each of the rear rooms flanking the center hall and one in the kitchen. The one in the kitchen was originally a double fireplace which opened into the dining room as well. Two fireplaces were removed in the 1950s. The floors are heart of pine of random widths. Some of the flooring is 20 feet in length. The floor in the kitchen was replaced with oak flooring in 1950. 
Three of the six rooms and the central passageway have the original plaster over wood lathe. In 1950, three of the rooms were paneled in pine. In 1990, two of them were sheetrocked over the paneling and finished to match the plastered walls. 
Originally the house was a part of a 66 acre tract and the original builder owned 800 acres in the vicinity. Over the years the property was sub-divided and 1.3 acres is all that remains of the original tract. The well is located at the rear near the porch. 
Flowering plants, shrubs, and fruit trees have been added to the native plants. Among them are azalea, crepe myrtle, plum, pecan, apple, pear and fig. Several of the original trees are left, included among them are native pecan, sycamore, redbud and two Youpon holly shrubs, once planted on either side of the rear walkway, that have grown into trees 25' to 30' in height. Several local arborists have stated that they are unusual due to their size. 
In all probability the site included a detached kitchen and outbuildings, however, nothing remains to indicate their location on the property. There is a small metal car cover and the remains of a small shed of 1950 vintage, as well as an old outdoor cooking pit erected by the Taylors during the 1950s. 
The Hodge-Taylor House is one of the few remaining early houses located in a country setting in Marion County, Texas. Although it was modified slightly during its long history, it retains most of its original details and is an important example of the Greek Revival style. Similarities have been noted which indicate that this home was built in the same time frame as the Col. James H. Rogers home, "The Manse", thought to be the oldest in Jefferson, Texas. The trim around the entrance doorway on the west exterior elevation of the "The Manse" is identical to that found around the interior two sets of double doorways and four single doorways in the center passageway in the Hodge-Taylor House. This is a unique design found only in these two houses in Marion County. Another similarity is found in the detailing of the woodwork in the two rear rooms exiting the central passageway of both homes. Windows and rooms have the same proportions. Ceiling heights are the same. 
The Hodge-Taylor House is one of the oldest dwellings in Marion County, Texas. At the time of its construction c. 1852 and in subsequent deed records it was referred to as the Berry Hodge Homestead so named after its original owner, Berry Hodge, a prominent landowner, farmer and surveyor. In 1870 D.W.H. Taylor purchased the house. The Taylor family occupied the property until 1889. In more recent years it has been known as the T.J. Taylor House, no relation to the former Taylor owner. Named after the late T.J. Taylor, Jr., brother of Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, former First Lady, it has been known locally by this name since it was purchased by Mr. Taylor 46 years ago. In all probability, it was built by the same person who constructed the General John Rogers home, known as the "Manse", and also recognized by many as Jefferson's finest example of Greek Revival architecture. Many of the details defining the "Manse" are also found in the Hodge-Taylor House. The house is a rare example of a Greek Revival dwelling with elegant proportions and fine detailing. Therefore, it is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at a local level of significance. 
The earliest settlement of Marion County or Red River County, as it was known at the time, was in the early 1800s sometime after the United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803. Settlers soon moved into the territory and disputes with Spain arose over the East Texas boundary. In order to avoid conflict, both parties agreed to declare the disputed territory a "neutral ground" governed by neither, and subject to no law. Although the formation of a neutral ground attracted many person of dubious character, others moved into the area and settlements were made at Port Caddo, Benton and Smith's Landing. In 1835, the United States signed a treaty with the Caddo Indian Nation which resulted in their removal from the area and in 1836 the Republic of Texas created the Red River District and soon began to distribute lands. Both of these acts encouraged migration into East Texas. In 1841, Allen Urquart of Daingerfield in Pascal County, the recipient of a headright, offered a townsite to the settlers of Smith's Landing near the ferry he had been operating at the point Trammel's Trace crossed the Big Cypress River and the town of Jefferson was formed in 1842 and incorporated in 1848. Urquart laid out his survey in a unique manner. It was surveyed at right angle to the bayou, i.e., northeast and southwest. As a result all roads led to the river. The original tract of land upon which the Hodge-Taylor House was built was laid out in the same fashion and as a result it faces northeast. 
Another factor which greatly affected the permanent settlement of the area was the Great Raft. This raft, an accumulation of fallen logs, snags and mud, as well as dense growths of weeds and vines, created a natural barrier which eventually choked the Red River causing it to overflow into Big Bayou Basin raising the waters in Caddo Lake and in the Big Cypress Bayou, making navigation by steamboat possible. In 1844, the first steamboat landed at Port Jefferson and Jefferson's future as an important inland port was born. The county was assured growth and economic development as settlers arrived to take advantage of commercial opportunities utilizing the vast timber resources, fertile land and abundant water and game. By 1848, Jefferson was established as an important trading center in Northeast Texas as a terminal for navigation from Mississippi and Louisiana. Jefferson was the last point at which supplies implements, and all of the necessities for a new home could be obtained. The area around Jefferson was largely in big plantations where cotton was grown and cattle raised. Shipping by water to New Orleans was the cheapest way to move bales of cotton, hides and furs and other merchandise. The roads leading into Jefferson became important arteries for transporting products to and from the port from as far away as Daingerfield, Mt. Pleasant, Dallas, Gainesville and points in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Wagons and wagon trains jammed the roads and waited in long lines to be unloaded. Many camped overnight. As a result, many small stores and business sprang along the way. The Daingerfield Road was no exception, at times wagons lined up as far as Four Miles Branch, which is, as its name indicated, four miles from Jefferson. Businesses located along this route. In 1847 J.S. Nash built the first iron furnace 18 miles west on this road. Lockett and Stewart established an iron foundry at Kellyville, five miles west in 1848, and two years later, G.A. Kelly purchased their business and began manufacturing the "Kelly Blue Plough". He also established an academy and a bell factory in this area. Andrew Hancock operated a sawmill, cotton gin, and grist mill 5 miles west on this road. The first artificial ice plant in Texas was located 1/2 mile west of Jefferson on this road. The first beer manufactured in 1868 by W.H. Oden Mfg. was also located near this location. The Paradise Male and Female Academy was located 1-1/2 miles west on this road. One mile farther west, Berry Hodge built his home in 1852. Other prominent citizens of Jefferson lived there, also. 
Mr. Hodge came to Texas from Kentucky, where his father was one of the largest landowners in Livingston County. He was married to Lavenia Susan Boggs in 1826 and was the father of five children; Samuel, Fannie, Robert, Susan and Berry. He arrived in Jefferson with two of his brothers and a nephew; and all began to acquire real estate. He built the Berry Hodge Homestead (the Hodge-Taylor House) in 1852 and acquired 800 acres in Cass County, later becoming Marion in 1860. His son Robert Blount enlisted in the 3rd Texas Calvary C.S.A. and died in 1864 after being wounded in the battle of Atlanta. Mr. Hodge was a school trustee and also was appointed along with his hands to assist in the maintenance of the Daingerfield Road as far as Four Mile Branch. During the Civil War Jefferson became a supply depot for the Confederate Army and this road remained an important artery. Wagons from Jefferson hauled Confederate supplies from Fulton, Arkansas to Mt. Pleasant to be stored. During the Reconstruction Mr. Hodge's brother was elected mayor of Jefferson, however he was removed from office by General J.J. Reynolds, Commander of the Fifth Military District U.S.A. army, for his failure to insure the safety of G.W. Smith, a Northerner who was murdered by a group of angry citizens. Forty prominent citizens were arrested and a military tribunal was convened which resulted in the infamous "Stockade Trials" of Jefferson. These lasted for a two year period and during this time the Hodge family sold their real estate. The Berry Hodge family moved back to Kentucky, Gus Hodge, nephew to Berry and a steamboat captain by profession, relocated to New Orleans and ex-mayor, William N. Hodge moved to Cleburne, Texas. 
D.W.H. Taylor purchased the house in 1870 and later it was given to his son Ennis W. Taylor. The Taylor family, well known in the area, was associated in business with the local newspaper, the Jefferson Jimplecute, a drug store, the Jefferson Light and Gas Co., and stockholders in the East Line and Red River Railway Co. The Taylor family owned the home for seventeen years when it was sold to J.R. Smith who owned property only two years before defaulting on the note. In 1889, before foreclosure was final, Smith transferred the property to Mrs. Mattie Grey. A lawsuit resulted but descendants of Mrs. Grey retained ownership for the next sixty years until it was purchased by T.J. Taylor, Jr., brother of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson former First Lady. Mr. Taylor had two children, one by each of his two marriages, T.J. Taylor III and Susan. T.J. Taylor was the owner of the Jefferson Wholesale Grocery, Inc., and was living on the property when Lyndon Johnson was elected President. His daughter, Susan, flew aboard Air Force I with the Johnsons as they traveled to the inauguration. Mrs. Johnson still visits the home, her last visit being in May 1996.  
After Mr. Taylor's death, his widow sold to Eugene Miller who owned the property for ten years and in turn sold it to its present owner, Mrs. Sammie DeSpain, in 1991. In 1993, the home was featured on tours sponsored by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club and Historic Jefferson Foundation. 
One of the unique features of the Hodge-Taylor House is its location. The Daingerfield Road was an important link to the history of Jefferson from its inception. It follows closely the route taken by the Trammel's Trace, a frontier trail used by early settlers migrating into Northeast Texas and Arkansas. It was the route take by Allen Urquart as he traveled to collect the tolls from his ferry at the crossing of the Cypress by the Trace in the 1830s. It was also the road taken by early settlers traveling to Daingerfield, the county seat. From 1848 to the beginning of the civil war it was an important artery for trade linking Sulphur Springs, Mt. Pleasant, Daingerfield and other points in Northeast Texas with Port Jefferson and New Orleans. During the civil war, it functioned as a supply route for transporting goods for the confederate army. Trade continued to flourish after the war. As many as 200 steamships docked at Port Jefferson in a single year and the number of wagons and wagon trains continued to increase and the road continued to serve an important function. 
With the demolition of the Great Raft and opening of the channel of the Red River in 1873 came a gradual receding of the waters in Port Jefferson and a sharp decrease in the number of steamboats landings. Despite the best efforts of the citizens of Port Jefferson to widen the channel, by 1890, only two small boats plied the river. The Daingerfield Road, once thronged with traffic and lined with cotton fields, became a dusty road linking two small towns. Most of the businesses had closed or relocated and only the Hodge-Taylor House and one other home stand as silent witnesses to the tumultuous past. 
The home has been modified only slightly over the years and all of the major changes were made by the late T.J. Taylor, Jr., (no relation to the second owner) and those modifications are minor in nature. As built, the Hodge- Taylor House was a Greek Revival center-passage plan. This plan is integral to traditional European house types, rustic dog trot, and to sophisticated Greek Revival style houses. This house reflects the Doric order of Greek Revival. The portico is defined by columns, repeated by pilasters where the porch joins the house, and supports an entablature composed of an ornamented frieze and architrave supported by pilasters at the corners giving distinction to the house. 
The proportions of the house with its large rooms, interior end-gable chimneys, and central portico are characteristic of Greek Revival houses from the upper South; and Berry Hodge, originally from Kentucky, probably had a clear vision of the house he would build in Texas. It retains remarkable integrity, and is a rare example of a mid- 19th century Greek Revival style center passage plan house in Marion County, Texas, situated on a historic trade artery. 
The Hodge-Taylor House was recoginized for its architecture as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission in 1964. It remains one of the few rural examples of Greek Revival dwellings in the vicinity of Jefferson, Marion County, Texas, and is eligible for the National Register under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance.

The Homestead 
Address: 410 E. Delta 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1965 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Built in 1851 by slave labor, square nails, broadax-hewn boards. Center society life of city.

The House of the Seasons 
Address: 409 S. Alley 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1965 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Built in 1872 for Benjamin H. Epperson, the House of the Seasons derives its name from the cupola with its stained glass windows that create an illusion of the seasons of the year. The home is a fine example of the transition period between Greek revival and Victorian styles of architecture. In plan and overall form, it is Greek revival. However, the detailing is Victorian with certain Italianate characteristics, such as the tall arched windows, the bracketed cornices, the gallery, the cupola, and the projecting bay windows. The circular opening in the first floor ceiling allows a view of the frescoes in the dome. Benjamin Epperson (1826-1878), a confidant of Sam Houston, was a distinguished lawyer, political leader, and entrepreneur. He served many terms in the Texas Legislature and was elected to the U. s. Congress in 1866, but did not serve because the southern delegations were not seated. When he built the house, Epperson was listed as one of the wealthiest men in the state and was respected as a major influence in Texas politics. Throughout most of its history, the House of the Seasons has served as a residence. It has also been used as a boarding house and as the main building of Jefferson College, a World War II veterans' college. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.

Historic Houston Street Victorian Cottage 
Address: 312 Houston St. 
City: Jefferson       County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1970 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Situated near ferry that brought riches to early Jefferson. First known owners (1851): John M. and Nancy Dollehite. A distinguished occupant: Mrs. Ernestine Sterne, 1872-1875 Jefferson postmaster. Restored by Mrs. Katherine R. Wise, owner since 1946. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970.

Hudgins-Blake House 
Address: 1109 Line St. 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1973 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Residence with fine door and window styling; large rooms; 13' ceilings; wide board floors. Built during 1855-67 era, by William P. Hudgins, ;the house had a series of short-term owners before W. L. and Mattie A. Blake, prominent Jefferson Central (Negro) School teachers, bought it in 1897; their family owned it for 60 years. Restored by 1957 purchasers, Bill R. and Ella McDonald, house has been preserved since 1961 by Mrs. W. L. (Nellie) Jackson. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973.

Immaculate Conception Church 
Address: Lafayette and Vale 
City: Jefferson       County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1964 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Church of oldest parish (organized 1866, by Father Jean M. Giraud, French priest) in Dallas Diocese. Among its charities have been three schools and first hospital in the Diocese. This edifice was built in 1867 of hand-finished wood, with tiered steeple, lancet windows. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964.

Jefferson 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1990 
Marker Location: 2 mi. south of Jefferson on US 59 
Marker Text: Home to the Caddo Indians for centuries, this area of Texas attracted Anglo-American colonists to settle here in the early 1800s. Founded in 1839, Jefferson developed along a double-grid pattern. Daniel Nelson Alley platted the townsite in a true north-south and east-west pattern, while Allen Urquhart drew a plan with streets leading diagonally to and from Big Cypress Bayou. Jefferson was a center of commerce and an important shipping point on the Red River system. Riverboats arrived at the wharves daily, making it a major inland port of entry for Texas pioneers. It was the seat of Cass County from 1846 to 1852, and was named seat of the new county of Marion in 1860. During the Civil War Jefferson served as a major supply center for the Confederacy. The late 1860s saw the imposition of martial law by Federal reconstruction troops, and a devastating fire in 1868 destroyed much of the central business district. Destruction of a massive logjam on the Red River in November 1873 diverted the river's flow and lowered the water in Big Cypress Bayou. The decline of Jefferson's economy due to the loss of its port continued until 20th-century tourism began to revive the town.

Jefferson 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1964 
Marker Location: 1 mi. NE on SH 49 
Marker Text: Founded 1836. Named for President Thomas Jefferson. Chief river port of Texas, 1846-1870. This prosperous ante-bellum city became a Confederate Quartermaster Depot; produced boots, shoes, iron goods, preserved meats for army. Nearby oil field discovered in 1939. Many fine old homes and other landmarks.

The Jefferson "Jimplecute" 
Address: 205 W. Austin St. 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1973 
Marker Text: Initials of words "join industry, manufacturing, planting, labor, energy, capital (in) unity together everlasting" headed 1848 paper of E.C. Beazley. Ward Taylor (1832-1894) founded present "Jimplecute," published 1865-1926 by his family. Later owners: Mrs. H. P. Winsborough, Tom Foster, Arthur M. Bower, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Dwaine Dennis.

Jefferson C. S. A. 
Address: 200 block of W. Austin 
City: Jefferson       County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1963 
Marker Text: (Star and Wreath) Metropolis of commerce and culture for East Texas, Jefferson became important center for Confederate activity. Major quartermaster depot for northern Texas established 1862 supplied clothing and camp equipment. Cotton Bureau Station set up to buy cotton, "life blood of the Confederacy." Two iron works in county made plows, kettles, skillets and cannon balls. Thousands of cattle and sheep were driven to slaughter house for processing and shipment. Boot and shoe factory helped outfit army. Debarkation center for troops leaving Texas. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the state of Texas 1963.

Jefferson Historic District
Address: Roughly bounded by Owens, Dixon, Walnut, Camp, and Taylor Sts. 
Architect: Multiple        Architectural Style: ITALIANATE; OTHER; ROMANESQUE
County: Marion       City: Jefferson  
Narrative: Jefferson, in far northeast Texas, is now a drowsy court house town on the bend of a bayou, but was once the second largest immigration port in Texas. The integrity of the city as it was in about 1880 is almost undamaged within the boundaries defining the Jefferson Historic District. There are 56 buildings of state significance within this district. 
Many of the buildings in Jefferson have been restored character of the town is that of the late Greek Revival, with Greek Revival and simple transitional Victorian white frame houses and brick commercial structures, all within close enough proximity to present a compatible streetscape. 
Most of the homes are symmetrical one-story frame buildings with attached front porches and handsome doors with sidelights, transoms, and frequently elaborate architraves. A symmetrical frame Italianate residence and a fine small brick Romanesque Revival Post Office and Courts Building punctuate the unity of the rest of the town. 
One of the earliest houses still standing is the Presbyterian Manse, at Delta and Alley, begun in 1839 with later additions, and a fine example of a Texas one-story Greek Revival residence with two attached four-column porches and exceptional door framing and entablature. Most of the purer Greek Revival were built during the fifties; the Alley-Carlson House, at Main and Walker, Sagamore at Dixon and Owens, are examples of the numerous homes of the traditional Texas version of the Greek Revival in Jefferson. A two-story example within the district is the Schluter House, at Taylor and Line, with an attached two-story front porch, simple columns, and fine Greek Revival doors. This building has cast iron balustrades seen in a number of Jefferson buildings, a lacy, somewhat open pattern that was made locally. 
Jefferson builders persisted in using some Greek Revival features even after the Civil War. Houses that are Victorian in their brackets, verticality, and gables continue to sport the Texas Greek Revival door with sidelights and transom and attached central front porches with columns with simple capitals all through the seventies. The Koontz House, at Jefferson and Friou has simple Victorian columns but retains the door and a wide Greek Revival entablature; the Beard House, at Henderson Vale, continues to use the door and entablature with emphatic brackets and slender Victorian columns. The Sedberry House at Market and Henderson, is a Victorian version of the Louisiana raised cottage with the Jefferson cast iron balustrade a flanking curved cast iron stairs, but still persisting in a Greek Revival quality with a Greek Revival door. 
The House of the Seasons, at Delta and Alley, is a two- story symmetrical white frame residence with central attached porch but Italianate in style, with arched windows, balustrades, and central tower that has four different colors of glass in the four sides of the tower, giving the effect of the four seasons to the observer looking out and creating a wild interior space visible through a central open rotunda. 
One of the most popular attractions in Jefferson is the Excelsior House, a two-story Greek Revival hotel built in the late 1850s and with an 1872 wing. The hotel is still in operation and is furnished largely with original furniture of the hotel, and with a quality of elegance not uncommon in the interiors of the houses in Jefferson. Two-story galleries at the rear of the hotel open on to a landscaped courtyard with fountains. The front has a one-story canopy with the characteristic cast iron balustrade forming a balcony. In the lobby the old registers are displayed and bear the signatures of Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, Jacob Astor, W.H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, and Oscar Wilde. 
The commercial area has few modern intrusions into the unity of simple two-story brick or stuccoed nineteenth century warehouses, banks, and stores. Several of these buildings are close to the bayou where the foundations of the stone wharves are still evident. Jefferson is a unified and attractive well-preserved nineteenth century town. 
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 
After forty years of intense activity, time essentially stopped in Jefferson, Texas, in the 1880s. Jefferson is in the far northeast corner of Texas on a horseshoe bend in the Big Cypress Bayou west of Caddo Lake (The bayou is a tributary of the Red River as it flows south through Louisiana). Now, nearly one hundred years later, it is a quiet town of white frame late Greek Revival homes, lush vegetation and green lawns and simple two-story commercial buildings. The citizens have been working for thirty years to restore their buildings and have benefited by creating a tourist attraction, especially during their annual spring pilgrimage. 
The navigable bayou that created Jefferson as a far inland port was the result of a massive log raft which backed up water in the Red River. Many of the settlers who came to North and East Texas came by way of Jefferson in three waves of immigration, first, in the 1830s to the Republic of Texas; then from 1846 until Civil War days, to the State of Texas; and finally after the war, they came again to start anew in the great immigration wave of the 1870s. Countless family histories of present day Texans recount the fact that grandfather or great grandfather came by river steamer to Jefferson and then traveled overland from there to the new home. 
In the earliest years of the white man's claim to this region, it was nominally Spanish territory. Caddo Indians had settlements dotted throughout the northeast Texas area and there was a village on Caddo Lake's shores. An Indian Agency was in operation northeastward from the site of Jefferson, around 1820 Settlers drifted into the area about 1832 and some settled at the head of Ferry Lake, a continuation of Caddo Lake by the channel of Cypress Bayou. 
Allen Urquhart had claim to land at the head of navigation on Cypress Bayou, and offered settlers land in his claim and a number of them moved to what is now Jefferson. By 1839, this area which had been claimed as a part of Miller County, Arkansas became by agreement, a part of the Republic of Texas, and the grant to Urquhart became solid. 
Sometime in the 1830's, Urquhart began operation of a ferry across the Cypress at the end of present day Houston Street in the southern tip of the town. Urquhart was a surveyor for the Republic of Texas and only occasionally lived in Jefferson. He began surveying for the town of Jefferson in about 1841 and Dan Alley also surveyed and laid off part of the town on his land holdings. The result of their planning of the city is evident in the different orientation of the two parts of the town today. 
It is quite likely that the first boats to reach Jefferson were flatboats and keelboats as these were used extensively on the Red River from 1820 onward. The first river steamer chugged into the wide bayou in 1844. The steamer was the Lama with Captain Withinberry as her master. It was the first powered boat to come to the growing little town and it carried passengers and cargo and heralded the opening of the inland port which was to become Northeast Texas' most important city. 
Jefferson, at the head of the waterway, was for nearly forty years by far the easiest city to reach in the great new region and was the heart city of a new country where immigrants funneled through and where many waited weeks and months for the remainder of their relatives to arrive or to secure a wagon, oxen or horses, farm implements, and their household furnishings. 
Business grew steadily and finally boomed as Jefferson was the last point at which supplies, implements, and all the necessities of a new home could be obtained. Wharves were built along the bayou for half a mile and great brick warehouses were erected. Jefferson had numerous wholesale houses for hardware, clothing, groceries, and furniture and an equally large number of retail stores in the city. There were a number of hotels offering the finest accommodations west of the Mississippi. 
The culture around Jefferson was largely that of large a plantations, and the character of the town and the surrounding area is still that of the deep South. During the Civil War, Jefferson sent many men to the Confederate service. It was an important depot for the Confederate Army in the Trans-Mississippi was a center of wartime production for Confederate supplies. There were machine shops, iron foundries, a center for boot and hoe making, and a large meat packing plant. 
The war was a sacrificial period for Jefferson and by the immigration trade for its livelihood, had melted away, But the situation that could well have been the death of Jefferson served as the herald of its golden age, for after the war, the greatest westward movement of all began, and Jefferson became the hub of trade and migration. 
Steamboats, as many as fifteen at a time, were lined up at her wharves to unload merchandise and immigrants for the out-lying settlements. Endless wagon trains were made up in Jefferson and literally thousands of westward-bound immigrants poured through the city on the last lap of the journey to their new homes. During the high tide of immigration, families were camped all the way from the wharf area at the bayou to nearly four miles west of the city; and incoming wagon loads of cotton and other farm products sometimes took two or three days to reach the cotton gins, the compress and the wharves for which they were bound. 
After the close of the war, when labor and material again became available, the railroad building began to move westward and new towns sprang up along the lines in the move that began the gradual erosion of Jefferson's basic trade of immigration. Jefferson had long been a port city and many could see no need of the competing railroads and enough popular opinion prevailed to bring about the refusal of Jefferson to permit the railroad line to be built to her wharves. 
Railroad tycoon Jay Gould is reputed to have been angered at Jefferson s lack of foresight. It is said that he came for a conference and stayed at the Excelsior Hotel where in the register of January 1881 he penned a unique signature consisting of a drawing of a jaybird in florid style followed by the words "The End of Jefferson." He has also been quoted as remarking, "In refusing to meet the requirements of free right of way for my railroad, Jefferson pronounces her town's doom. I will build around here, grass will grow in her streets, and bats will dwell in her vacant houses."  
It is unfair to place all the blame for Jefferson's steady and distressing demise on her failure to take Jay Gould's offer. There were other equally potent factors. One of them was the fact that the tide of immigrants was coming into Texas from the north and Jefferson was no longer the major entry point. 
The most potent factor of all in Jefferson's near death grew out of a plan by U.S. Army engineers that was expected to improve the flow of water in the Red River with a consequent benefit to navigation. This was the project of removing the great 90 mile long log-jam in the Red River with the use of snagboats. But, as several historians have since pointed out, the plan backfired, for the water now had a free channel and instead of filling the lakes and connecting bayous it began draining them. After a number of years, the water level in the Red River above Shreveport and in the connecting lakes and bayous became too low for steamboat traffic. 
Another factor is that many of the permanent residents of Jefferson suffered heavy losses during the Reconstruction period to buildings and property through arson and vandalism and were never able to recoup those losses. 
In 1941 the beginnings of the Jefferson Historical Pilgrimage were made. The Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club women realized that Jefferson's most marketable product was her turbulent and interesting past. Step by step and with limited funds the club has gone about the work of the restoration of "Old Jefferson." The town today boasts a unique collection of restored old buildings of considerable merit as vernacular examples of the tenacious appeal of the late Greek Revival to East Texans. Many of these buildings show the hand of fine craftsmen and the relative affluence of their owners. 
Nearly all of this text is from Cameron, Rebecca M. and Ruth G. Lester. Jefferson on the Bayou, Glamorous Cultural Old city of Stern-Wheelers and Wagon Trains. The Demmer Co rec., Marshall, Texas. 1966, although considerable rearranged and with occasional modifications.

Early Jefferson Lodge Building 
Address: 61 Dallas St. 
City: Jefferson       County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1990 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Built in the late 1850s, this building first housed the Jefferson Masonic Lodge. A number of businesses were located here during the Civil War, and later it was used by the Knights and Ladies of Honor of Myrtle and the Knights of Honor of Jefferson. Exhibiting elements of the Italianate style, this is the last remaining example of the commercial-row structures which served Jefferson's Dallas Street wharf front during its heydey as an inland port. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990.

Jefferson Ordnance Magazine 
Address: 0.3 mi. NE of US 59B crossing of Big Cypress Bayou 
County: Marion      City: Jefferson

Jefferson Playhouse 
Address: NW corner of Market and Henderson Sts. 
County: Marion      City: Jefferson 
Architectural Style: GREEK REVIVAL 
Narrative: The St. Mary's Catholic School (c. 1860) portion of the Synagogue- School building is a two story Greek Revival structure with a central hall plan and two principal chambers on each level. The structure originally had a rear wing, containing several rooms, which have subsequently been removed. Two exterior, end chimneys (of which only the north chimney remains) allowed fireplaces in all rooms. A modern rear addition contains a two-story porch and a kitchen and bathroom facilities. The principal facade (east elevation) has a tetra-style portico with two-story square columns. The columns have plinth bases and molded capitals. A wide entablature--including a box cornice with a heavy bed and crown mold tops the portico. The entablature on the main building is a similar composition. The door bell has double, French- type, four-panel wooden doors with four- light side winders and a five- light transom. Window and door moldings on the building are very simple. Windows throughout the building are very wide sash-type with six-over- six lights. The school building is covered with a low hipped-roof. 
Built around 1876 the, Sinai Hebrew Synagogue is a twostory building in the transitional period between the late Greek Revival and the Victorian styles. The tall, simple rectangular structure has a gabled-roof with a pedimented table end on the south elevation. The north elevation of the structure abutts, St. Mary's School. A fine Greek Revival entablature tops the building with a box cornice, crown and bed molds, and a division between the architrave and the frieze. The same composition is used in the pedimented gable. A small gabled projection on the east elevation housed the sacred objects connected with the synagogue. Two tall rounded head windows on both the east and south elevation light the interior of the structure. A very elaborate doorway on the west elevation is the main entrance to the synagogue. The doorway has double, French-type paneled doors, which are recessed. Beveled inset panels at the jamb and head of the doorway form the recess. The exterior of the doorway has a simple facial board molding. There are three small, six-over-six light, windows on the second floor of the west elevation. The interior of the synagogue has a fine balcony supported by columns and reached by an exterior stairway. The altar and surrounding woodwork exhibits a high level of craftsmanship. The exterior wall finish of the two-part structure is clap boarding.  
During the days when Jefferson was a national center of passenger and commercial river traffic, both the Jewish and Catholic faiths were strongly represented in the town. Many of the members of the two religions were from the New Orleans area. 
After Jefferson lost its cosmopolitan port population, the Jewish Synagogue and Catholic School buildings were sold. For a while they were used as a residence. Now the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club owns and maintains the building as a playhouse. The program often depicts scenes from the history of Jefferson. 
In 1965 it was designated a historic landmark by the Texas State Historical Survey Committee. 
Marker Title: Jefferson Playhouse Address: Henderson and Market St. City: Jefferson County: Marion Year Marker Erected: 1965 Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Marker Location: Marker Text: Built about 1860 by Robert W. Nesmith, a contractor of stage lines. After several changes in ownership, house was purchased 1869 for Sisters of Charity and used as their convent, hospital and school (called St. Mary's). In 1875, property was bought by Sinai Hebrew Congregation of Jefferson. An auditorium was added, and served as the local synagogue until about 1900. Owned and restored by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.

Jefferson Public Library
Address: Lafayette and Marrion 
City: Jefferson         County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1966 
Marker Text: Built 1907 by local funds plus a gift from Andrew Carnegie Foundation-- one of 34 such grants made in Texas (where the movement for public libraries had begun in 1881). A center of interest in a culture-loving town. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.

Jefferson Turn Basin 
City: Jefferson     County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1964 
Marker Location: north side of bridge on Polk St. 
Marker Text: Wide, deep lagoon in Cypress Bayou, used for turning around ships in Gulf-Red River trade. First steamer to reach here was the "Lama" in 1844, by way of Red River, which for 200 miles above Shreveport was clogged by a "raft" of debris that had begun forming about 1529. Cypress Bayou thus was best travel route into Oklahoma, western Arkansas and north Texas. Until Federal government in 1873 removed the raft, Jefferson was southwest's greatest inland port, with this basin its business center. Last steamer operated here in 1903.

Kahn Saloon 
Address: 123 Austin St. 
City: Jefferson      County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1985 
Marker Text: Built during the early 1860s, this structure served as a boarding house and as a mercantile before opening as the Kahn Saloon about 1900. Temperance movement leader Carrie Nation was denied entrance here during one of her campaigns through Texas. Jefferson native Marion Try Slaughter launched his career as country music singer Vernon Dalhart at the Kahn Saloon. The popular gathering place was closed after local prohibitionists won a 1907 election. Since that time, the building has been used for a variety of purposes, including a newspaper office, lodge building, furniture store, and funeral home.

Old Home of Geo. Keese 
Address: 112 S. Friou 
City: Jefferson        County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1966 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: early citizen. Erected about 1858 by Dan M. Alley, who laid off the city's Alley addition. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966.

Kellyville 
City: Kellyville       County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1936 
Marker Location: SH 49 about 5 mi. west of Jefferson

Knightwood
Address: Owens and Walker St. 
City: Jefferson         County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1965 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Marker Text: Built 1852 by Col. Henry A. Mimms as a daughter's wedding gift. Noted for hospitality. Meeting place for Men's Harmony Club and Ladies' Cooking Class that held weekly dancing parties. Has original honey pine floors, cherry wood mantels. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965.

Liberty Baptist Church
City: Jefferson              County: Marion  
Year Marker Erected: 1989 
Marker Text: This church traces its history to April 1874, when eight charter members gathered to organize a Baptist congregation. The first pastor was W. W. Mond. Early worship services were held in a Union Church building which was shared with the local Methodist congregation and was also used as a school. Known as Harmony Baptist Church in the early 1890s, the original name of Liberty was restored in 1898. About that time the Methodist congregation ceased to use the Union Church facility, which has been enlarged over the years to accommodate the growing Baptist congregation.

Old Livery Stable
Address: Austin and Vale St. 
City: Jefferson          County: Marion  
Year Marker Erected: 1968 
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 
Near Trammel's Trace, a road charted 1813, used by thousands of settlers migrating to Texas. Site was owned 1868 by D. B. Culberson, later a congressman and a lawyer for defense in the Diamond Bessie murder trial. Culberson's 2-story building here was original site for the Chesterfield Club, East Texas' elite social group, 1870s-1930s. Present structure, built about 1900, housed horses and buggies for public hire until auto age. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968.

Lockett Cemetery 
City: Jefferson            County: Marion 
Year Marker Erected: 1999 
Marker Location: 6.3 mi. N of Jefferson on US 59; 1.2 mi. E on Dreesen Rd. 
Marker Text: Royal and Martha (Smith) Lockett came to Texas from Georgia between 1856 and 1858 with their eleven surviving children and the family's slaves. Seven of their eight living sons survived in the Confederate Army. The earliest marked grave on this site is that of Walter R. McGarity (1853-1862) son of James H. and Marie Antoinette (Lockett) McGarity and grandson of Royal and Martha Lockett. Six generations of Lockett descendants are interred here. according to family oral history, a Union solider who died on the Lockett Plantation also is buried in the graveyard. Of the more than 45 interred here by 1999, two were verterans of the Confederate Army and three were veterans of World War ll. The Lockett Cemetery continues as a chronicle of Marion County history. (1999)

This information was extracted from the Texas Historical Commission web site.

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