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Resource Name: Locust
Grove Resting upon a brick pier foundation, Locust Grove faces north and is dominated on the front by a two-story inset gallery. The gallery extends the length of the house and is divided into five bays by six square wood columns on each floor. The columns are capped with molded capitals and are linked by slat balustrades. Double door entrances with transom and sidelights pierce each floor and are flanked on either side by 6/6 windows. Displaying exterior brick chimneys that extend beyond the gable
roof in the east and west facades, the structure featured a u-shaped
floor plan with two, one-story gable roofed wings projecting from
the rear of the two-story main house. In 1908 the courtyard between
the two wings was enclosed with a one-story gabled roof addition
which created a large hall running the width of the house. A double
door rear entrance, originally opening onto the courtyard, was removed
and reinstalled in the addition. The kitchen and laundry room Locust Grove represents a good example of a Greek Revival plantation house of mid-nineteenth century Texas and stands as one of the oldest houses in the small community of Jonesville. Built for Alpheus Wright, the house once served as the center of a large plantation and has remained within the possession of Wright's descendants since its completion between 1847 and 1849. Alpheus Wright moved from Trenton, Kentucky to Harrison County in 1847. That same year, Redding S. Pridgen, a wealthy landowner in the area, married Wright's eldest daughter and sold 640 acres to Wright. Construction soon began on the two-story frame house, and by 1849 the structure was completed. When Wright's youngest daughter, Edith Florence, was born in the house in 1849, the building was called Florence Dale in honor of this child. However, the name did not stick, and eventually the house became known as Locust Grove, although the name's origin is not known. The Wright plantation prospered throughout the 1850's, but the Civil War and Wright's illness in the mid 1860's contributed to the decline of the plantation. Wright's only son, Robert, returned from his assignment with the Confederate army to visit his father and run the plantation. When Wright died in 1869, his widow, Lucy Taylor Wright, became the owner, and Robert managed the farm. After their deaths in 1883, the land was subdivided among the family members and the house became the property of Robert's widow, Eudora Perry Wright. After her death in 1902, the house has been owned by various family members and is still owned by a direct descendant of Alpheus Wright. The community of Jonesville was founded in 1847 in the eastern section of Harrison County about four miles west of the Louisiana border. The township was originally called Border, but the name was soon changed to Jonesville. When the railroad arrived in 1868, most of the townspeople moved one-and-one-half miles south near the railroad tracks. As a result, Locust Grove stands as an excellent reminder of the old townsite and represents one of the oldest and most impressive residences in the area. Marker Title: Magnolia
Hall Marker Title: Maplecroft Marker Title: Home of Last Texas Confederate Governor
Pendleton Murrah Marker Title: Wm. Patillo Home Marker Title: Girlhood Home of Southern Beauty Lucy
Holcombe Pickens Resource Name: Old Pierce House The house is a nearly square frame structure raised on brick piers.
The property on which the house sits slopes downward from the intersection
of Columbus and Rusk streets so that the house is approximately
one-half story above the ground on the principal facade and a full
two stories in height at the rear of the house. Consequently, the
brick walled basement level is one room deep and extends the width
of the rear of the house. The area way under the front half of the
house is latticed, and large double latticed doors on the north The upper floor or piano nobile with its four large rooms and front and rear, central halls was the main living quarters of the house. A small square columned porch with full entablature covers the double entrance doors. The porch is reached by a flight of eleven steps which extend the width of the porch. The simplicity of the detail add to the monumental quality of this relatively small residential building. The entrance composition is flanked by pilasters which repeat the design of the porch columns. The columns support an entablature. The double doors have two long narrow fields in each door. The jamb and head of the doorway are simple facie members with plinth blocks and an undecorated square blocks at the meeting of the jamb and head. This Greek Revival door composition is unusual for East Texas in that there are no side lights and no transom. The exterior walls of the house are sheathed in clapboard. Windows throughout the house are six-over-six light sash windows with exterior shutters. The entablature of the columned porch surrounds the house. A simple box cornice with crown and bed molds complete the composition. The house is surmounted by an unusual truncated hipped roof. The deck formed the truncating of the roof rises above the roof and has a small box cornice. This unusual feature does not appear to have been balustrade nor does it seem to have functioned as a widow's walk. The principal floor has two rooms on each side of the double hall.
The front hall has large double doors opening in to the parlor to
the north and the dining room to the south. The rear hall provides
access to the two rear bed chambers and contains the staircase to
the lower floors. Each of these four rooms has a fireplace on their
common wall. The detailing on the mantles, doors and windows is
very restrained with little or no carved molding appearing on any
elements. Cabinets are built into the wall flanking the fireplace
in the dining The rear of the residence has a narrow double gallery. The rear hall and both bedrooms have doors, with fixed lights in the upper portion, opening onto the upper gallery. The gallery has a Victorian balustrade, does not match the building's Greek Revival detail and is most probably a later addition. Magnolia Hall, the Pierce House, located at 303 N. Columbus Street, in Marshall, Texas, is an outstanding example of mid-19th century residence architecture and among the best preserved examples of an East Texas Greek Revival raised cottage. The house was probably built in the 1850's. This date is indicated by the significant change in value from the 1851 sale to that of the 1864 sale. In addition, the wording, "all and singular rights improvements and herediataments" in the 1864 deed of sale indicate that a house had been erected on the property by that date. The property was owned by James B. Wilson from 1851 to 1856, and George W. Ewell from 1856 to 1864. Since the first page of the 1856 transaction has been removed from the county records, it is impossible to ascertain if the house was built by Wilson or Ewell. After an eleven-month ownership by Ezekiel and Caroline Schwartz,
the house was sold to John H. Lee on November 28, 1865. The property
remained in the hands of Lee's descendants for over one hundred-years.
Lee, an influential planter with extensive holdings in land, sold
the property to his daughter, Anna E. Pierce in December 1869, for
five hundred dollars less than he had paid for it four years earlier.
Anna E. Pierce had married John L. Pierce in January 1867. This
was not a happy marriage as evidenced by a Anna E. Pierce lived in the 303 N. Columbus Street house until her death in the late 1920's. Jack T. Pierce, son of Anna and a lawyer in Marshall, lived in the house until the late 1930's. After his death, the property was owned by Hope Pierce Tart, the daughter of Anna E. Pierce. Hope Pierce Tart willed the property to the first Methodist Church in 1966. The house was unoccupied for twenty-six years, after the death of Jack T. Pierce and was in a serious state of deterioration. The property was purchased from the First Methodist Church on July 25, 1966, by Mr. & Mrs. Emory Elder. They spent approximately two years restoring the structure, and have accomplished one of the finest restorations of a private house in Texas. In the process of restoration, worn out materials were refurbished and repaired wherever possible. New materials were introduced only where absolutely necessary, and no alterations were made to the four principal chambers or the front and rear central hall. All improvements such as heating and air conditioning, bathroom facilities, and modern kitchen equipment were confined to secondary spaces in the lower or on-grade floor of the residence. The house has been furnished with mid-nineteenth century furniture from the Marshall area. Consequently, this raised cottage provides a good illustration of a late Greek Revival town residence in East Texas in the decade before the Civil War. Marker Title: Home of William Thomas Scott Resource Name: Starr House The front porch has evenly spaced square columns with simple capitals. The porch balustrade is simply detailed with square balusters. The porch roof has a classically detailed railing that continues across the roof of the one-story bedroom addition unifying the entire composition. Windows on the first floor are two-over-two double sash and those on the second floor are four-over-four. Screens and two panel louvered shutters are present; the cypress shutters are painted green to contrast with the white siding. Four light glass sidelights and two light transom embellish the front entrance. The center bay of the house is marked by a gabled roof dormer with two round-headed, double hung 4/4 light windows. Decorative brackets on a plain frieze appear on both the gabled ends and longitudinal sides of the dormer. The two-story block is marked by four prominent inside end corbel capped chimneys indicating four fireplaces (two per floor). The bracketed cornice, characteristic of later phases of the Greek Revival style in Texas, is found on the gable ends and the long sides. The second floor porch railing is the most prominent decorative feature of the house. Simple short posts repeat the bay spacing of the porch columns below and the fenestration behind it. The railing is of plain balusters. Originally, the roof was copper formed to resemble tile and painted dark green. Now the house is roofed with asphalt composition shingles, A twisted wrought-iron lightening rod system, installed in the late 1800s, still exists. The interior stair is an open stairwell with one flight of steps. The newel woodwork is all of mahogany darkly stained. Interior trim is the architrave type with mitered corners of painted pine. The 4-paneled stained pine 8 foot high doors have operable two light glass transoms and their original white porcelain knobs and full mortise locks. Flooring consists of wide (appox. 1" x 6") edge-grained Southern Yellow heart pine nailed with hand made nails. Most mantels are marbleized iron with cast iron coverings and white marble hearths. Downstairs, the ceilings are 12' high. Originally, the walls were plastered. Now there is some sheet rock and upstairs the walls have been wall papered. There is wainscoting in the dining room, of solid walnut with narrow oak vertically applied battens capped with a heavy chair rail. Original wood interior shutters are still extant. The speaking tubes system is no longer in existence. The tower room adjacent to the kitchen originally contained a cistern. Water was pumped from a well to the cistern by a windmill. There was a gauge on the side of the tower to determine the amount of water available. Other structures on the property include the "school house"
(#2 on the site plan), which was originally built as a residence
for Tempe, a freed slave. Following Temne's residency there, the
one-story, gable-roofed structure was used as a school and later
as a laundry house. A comparable structure to the northeast (#3)
features a porch and standing seam metal roof. To its east is a
simple building (#4) raised on brick piers topped by a pyramidal
metal shingle roof and a low pitch shed roof. A one-story gable-
roof garage (#5) is also One room of the original James Harner Starr house ("Rosemont") remains. It is a one-story hip-roofed structure with an end chimney. This was originally an addition built as the downstairs bedroom during James H. Starr's later years. It is #3 on the site plan. Structures no longer extant include a large barn, the remainder of the original "Rosemont", a stable, carriage house, chicken house, carpentry shop, tool house, windmill with sheds, laundry shed, and grass tennis courts. Alterations to the main house have been confined to plumbing, wallpapering, and general refurbishing. A long porch at the back of the house was enclosed and made into a hallway, pantry, and breakfast room. The James F. Starr House, also known as "Maplecroft", at 407 W. Travis St. is an excellent example of a late Greek Revival style residence in Marshall, Texas. Built by shipwrights imported from New Orleans, the house is located on land given to J. F. Starr by his father Dr. James Harper Starr, who was prominent in Republic of Texas politics. The house takes its common name from the stand of maple trees planted on the property by Dr. Starr. The Starr house is one of the most significant homes in Harrison County. James Franklin Starr was the son of Dr. James Harper Starr and Harriet J. Starr. He was born in Nacogdoches, Texas in 1844. Following the Civil War, James Starr completed his education at the University of Virginia and married Clara Thomas Fry in 1868. He joined Dr. Starr in the land business in Nacogdoches. Not only did they buy and sell land themselves, but they advertised Texas to prospective settlers from all parts of the U. S. The business continued in Nacogdoches until early 1870, when they both decided that Marshall, Texas, would be a more desirable location as both rail and telegraph services were located there. James H. and James F. Starr jointly established Marshall's first bank in 1872. This father-son association continued until 1873 when James H. Starr retired. Dr. James Harper Starr's career was long and distinguished. He was a physician, businessman and early supporter of higher education in Texas. He served as a Land Commissioner for the Nacogdoches District and did a remarkable job. He also served as Treasurer of the Republic. He died in the James F. Starr House in 1895. James F. and Clara Starr occupied the house together from the
time it was built until his death in 1902. Mrs. Starr continued
to occupy the house until her death in 1925. Their daughter Ruth
Starr Blake lived in the house from 1925 until her death in 1969.
Clara Pope Willoughby and Ray W. Willoughby have been the owners
since 1969. However, in 1976 Maplecroft was deeded to the State
of The house itself is in excellent condition and has always been well cared for. Alterations have not been extensive and have been confined to wallpapering, general refurbishing and modern plumbing facilities. Resource Name: Stinson, John R., House The Belle Fry Gaines House exhibits characteristics of the transition
period between the Greek Revival and Victorian styles. Following
the Civil War, the Greek Revival did not disappear in Texas as it
did in the East, but changed in some aspects. The thin vertical
line of the Victorian period gradually replaced the classic horizontally
of the Greek Revival. Blake Alexander states in his book "Texas
Homes of the Nineteenth Century"(p. 90): "The shift from
Greek Revival to Victorian was not a sudden change, but a gradual
development The Belle Fry Gaines House does not retain the symmetry of a central hall floor plan of the Greek Revival, but it exhibits the symmetrical arrangement of the front facade. A center door is flanked on each side by an equal number of evenly spaced windows. The House also retained the columnar porch, a dominant Greek Revival feature. Each story of the double gallery is supported by one-story Ionic columns. The more slender, turned balusters of the balustrade which embellishes the galleries are a move toward the Victorian. Also indicative of the Victorian is the appearance of the two-over-two, double-hung windows. The sash with only one vertical mullion and two long vertical lights is definitely a break with the past and an attempt to up-date to a new style, the Victorian. Also visible is the use of the flat elaboration and the jigsaw cut brackets which decorate the roof cornice and the two bay windows. The first floor originally consisted of an entrance hall, a formal dining room and a family setting room/bedroom. The second floor contained three bedrooms and a small bath which was added at a later date. The ceilings in the rooms are twelve feet high. With the exception of the entrance hall which is papered, the ceilings are board and batten with decorative carved wooden cornices. There are operable fireplaces in the parlor and the sitting room/bedroom on the first floor and in two of the upstairs bedrooms. The interior doors and windows still retain their original hardware and china knobs. The Belle Fry Gaines House remains in a good state of repair and remarkably unaltered on the interior and exterior since the 1903 construction of an addition to the house. The Belle Fry Gaines House is architecturally significant, an example of an elegant transition period house built during a period of change from the Greek Revival to the Victorian style. The house exhibits a combination of the formal dignity of the Greek Revival and the fussier or more elaborate ornamentation of the Victorian. The grand proportions and the prominent setting of the house indicate a return to prosperity that Marshall and the rest of Texas were enjoying in the 1870s after the end of the Civil War. The prosperity of the times was no more evident than in the fact that the house was built as a wedding gift to John R. Stinson and his bride, Sallie Callaway Stinson, after their marriage in 1875. Both the Stinson and Callaway families were pioneer Harrison County families. It is equally important that the house was owned by another prominent Marshall citizen, Mrs. Belle Fry Gaines, who lived in the house for almost seventy years. John R. Stinson, born in Harrison County in 1849, was educated at a highly respected, private academy in Gilmer, Texas. He owned and operated his own mercantile establishment in Marshall until 1902 when he retired. He also served one term as mayor of Marshall. Records indicate that Mrs. John R. Stinson's father, Joe Callaway, had the house built for her and her husband as a wedding present and that it was built by a contractor named Mr. Fortson. He also was the contractor on the house built for Mrs. Stinson's sister when she married several years later. There is very little available information about Mr. Fortson and it is unclear whether he was a citizen of Marshall or if he built other structures in the city. The Stinsons sold the house in 1909 to Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Minton. Mrs. Minton was the former Isabelle "Belle" Fry, the youngest of seven child of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Fry, who had lived since 1872 in the Fry Home(now designated the Fry-Barry House), located across the street at 301 W. Austin Street. Mrs. Minton obviously chose the Stinson house as her home so she would be near her parents. Mrs. Minton married E.P. Gaines in 1923 after the death of her first husband. Gaines was a Texas Railroad Commission employee. He died only three years after their marriage. Mrs. Gaines opened an antique shop in the house in the 1930s. She continued to operate the prosperous business and live in the house until her death in 1978. She was 94 when she died. Since Mrs. Gaines lived in the house for so many years, it became known as the Belle Fry Gaines House. In 1959, she deeded the house to her daughters and it is presently for sale. Marker Title: Todd-McKay-Wheat House Marker Title: Trammel's Trace Cabin Address: 301 Henley Perry Dr. City: Marshall County: Harrison Year Marker Erected: 1965 Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Marker Location: Marker Text: Built before 1842. Hand-hewn logs, chinked with pipe clay. For strength has butterfly mortising on log ends and beams with tee-braces. Was part of a 2-pen dog-trot house. Moved here, 1938, by Mr. and Mrs. Hobart Key, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965 Marker Title: The Turner House Resource Name: Turner, James, House Address: 406 W. Washington Ave. Architect: Gregg,G.G. County: Harrison City: Marshall Architectural Style: GREEK REVIVAL; OTHER Narrative: The Turner House at 406 S. Washington Avenue was originally located on Lot 1, Block 4 of the Original Townsite of Marshall, Texas where it faced north on Crockett Street. It remained on Lot 1 until 1928 when it was moved to the adjoining lot and its present location, Lot 2, Block 4. Constructed between 1850 and 1854, the one-story frame house had a Greek Revival floor plan consisting of a central hall with two identical or square room, on either side. It had a gable roof with two chimneys and a fireplace in each of the four rooms. The house is supported by brick pillars on which rest the original wooden beams, measuring twelve inches wide and thirty feet long. The Greek Revival style appeared in Texas in the 1840 and remained the major architectural style until 1870. Blake Alexander states in his book "The Texas Homes of the Nineteenth Century"(p. 85-87): "Adaptability and ease of simplification were the great advantages of the Greek Revival style. It brought a harmony and a dignity to the simplest farm house... The Early Texas house, which was a simple frame structure with a porch across the front, was transformed with very little effort into a simple Greek Revival house." The Turner House, when originally constructed, was embellished with a front stoop in place of the usual extended front porch. Two columns supported a classic pediment which was a Greek Revival feature. The stoop was an attempt to represent the Greek Revival central portico which framed and sheltered the front door, but did not extend the full width of the house. The stoop or portico of the Turner House protected the characteristic single door opening into a central hall. The Turner House underwent several modifications during the years. In 1890, the stoop or central portico was incorporated into a porch which extended across the front of the house. The porch, a mayor feature of the facade, exhibited characteristics of the popular Victorian style which first appeared in Texas in the 1870s. Slender turned columns supported the shed roof and pedimented gable. The verticality of the Victorian style was further introduced by the use of four slender lights in the top sash of the double- hung windows. As the family grew, Mr. and Mrs. Turner built a separate frame structure to the rear of the main house. It served as a dormitory for their nine children. When the house was moved to its present location in 1928, a shed addition containing a bathroom, a kitchen and one other room was attached to the rear of the house. It was constructed out of lumber salvaged from the demolished dormitory building. Mrs. Eugene Gillespie, the granddaughter of James Turner, began
restoring the house in 1977. The composition roof was replaced by
a wood shingle roof. During restoration, the original shingle roof
laid over a primitive log slab decking was exposed. The decking
was supported by rough-cut four-by-six rafters instead of the two-by-four
rafters used today. The shed addition was removed and a modern bathroom
was installed at the rear of the central hallway. The relocation
of the bathroom is the only significant modification of The Turner House, one of the oldest structures standing in Marshall, contains characteristic elements of the Early Greek Revival style and its transition into the Victorian. The Early Texas house, usually a simple frame structure with a porch, lent itself to being adapted to the classic forms of the Greek Revival style which appeared in Texas in the late 1840s. The style was well suited to the conditions of mid-nineteenth century Texas. Due to transportation problems, the builder often manufactured the parts of the house on the site and the boldly scaled details of the Greek Revival could be reproduced easily with a minimum expenditure of time and materials. The Turner House is representative of the movement toward a more dignified home and away from the crude cabin. The House is historically important because of its association with two prominent Marshall families. It has been owned and occupied for 125 years by the G.G. Gregg and the James Turner families whose members were active in local and state affairs. Although the structure has been removed from its original site, the original design of the house has remained essentially unaltered. The Turner House deserves recognition not only for being one of the oldest structures in Marshall, but for retaining its architectural integrity, as well as for its historical association with important people who helped to shape the development of East Texas. George Gammon Gregg purchased lot 2, Block 4 in 1846 and built the residence now known as the Turner House about 1850 or 1851 for his bride, Mary Ann Wilson. He and his wife lived in the house until 1854 when he built a larger, more elaborate home and sold the house at 406 S. Washington Avenue to his brother. Gregg was a merchant, financier and Confederate procurement officer. His wife was the daughter of Rev. Thomas Wilson, a President of the Masonic Female Institute . In 1866, James Turner purchased the house at 406 S. Washington Avenue and it has remained in the Turner family since that date. Turner, a native of Sumner County, Tennessee, moved to Marshall in 1858 where he became one of the leading citizens. Turner was a self-educated man and studied law in the office of a brother-in-law in Tennessee. He was admitted to the Tennessee Bar, but emigrated to Marshall, Texas where he began practicing law. Turner married Eudora A. Knox, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Knox who owned a cotton plantation in the eastern portion of Harrison County. Turner served in a regiment during the Civil War commanded by Col. Walter P. Lane of Marshall and was elected lieutenant of his calvary company. Records indicate he served in this capacity for the remainder of the War and "enjoyed such robust health that he was in all the battles in which his regiment participated"(Encyclopedia of the New West, p. 441). At the close of the War, Turner returned to Marshall. Family records indicate that Turner won the title to the house at 406 S. Washington Avenue in a one hour Sunday morning poker game. He moved his family into the house and he lived there until his death in 1913. Turner was a Democrat who was interested in federal and state politics, but never ran for an office other than that for mayor of Marshall which he was elected to and served for four years. He was also one of the directors and stockholders of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and he held those positions after the line was sold to the Texas and Pacific Railroad Company. He served as the T&P's principal attorney for many years. It was stated that "few of his age have taken a more prominent part in the intricate and important questions, civil and criminal, which have been before the courts of the State "(Encyclopedia of the New West, p 441). Mrs. Eugene Gillespie, Turner's granddaughter, purchased the undivided interests in the house in 1977. Several years prior to this, the Office of the Harrison County Charities occupied the house. Mrs. Gillespie has completed the restoration of the house. Marker Title: Albert & Katie Van Hook House Marker Title: Van Zandt Hill Address: City: Marshall County: Harrison Year Marker Erected: 1969 Designations: na Marker Location: in front of Marshall Hall at East Texas Baptist College, N. Grove St., Marshall Marker Text: Homesite of Isaac Van Zandt (1813-1847), one of founders of Marshall, a noted frontiersman, debater, lawyer, statesman; served in 5th and 6th congresses of Republic of Texas; was charge d' affaires to United States, 1842-1844. In governor's race when he died of yellow fever and was buried in family graveyard. Now in Greenwood Cemetery. This 100 acre Van Zandt tract was bought from heirs in 1912 by College of Marshall founders. First classes met in June, 1917. In 1944 the college was raised to senior rank and renamed East Texas Baptist College. Incise in base: Erected by senior class, 1967, on 55th anniversary of college. Marker Title: Dr. Samuel Floyd Vaughan Home Marker Title: Ware Home Resource Name: Weisman-Hirsch
House The decoratively gabled dormers, varying window treatment, and slightly asymmetrical massing bespeak the Queen Anne architectural style with some classical detailing. Elements indicative of the Colonial Revival style are the proportionally balanced, grand central hall, and the building's near box-like appearance. In addition to the main structure, the original servants' house remains on the site. It is a one-story, two-room structure with board-and-batten siding. The Weisman-Hirsch House is framed with cypress and pine, and
rests on a brick foundation that is stuccoed and scored to suggest
stone blocks. The horizontal lines of the exterior walls are accentuated
by four features: (1) a water table positioned above the foundation
wall, (2) a continuous string course that runs beneath the first-story
window sill, (3) a bell-cast shingle course between the first and
second- story windows, and (4) a frieze panel below the boxed eaves.
Bays with chamfered corners project from the north The steeply pitched, hipped roof is extended by gables on the side bays and rear additions, and by three dormers on the front elevation. The central front dormer is quite intricate. This five-sided projection is faced with three windows and covered by a turret roof. The window of the middle opening is double hung, and there are closely spaced brackets beneath the dormer's eaves. Set within a deeply recessed gable and supported by a delicate, central sonic column, the south dormer of the front facade is faced with art glass. Two smaller gables with bracketed supports project at the sides of its triangular base. The northern dormer of the front is distinguished by cornice returns over twin art-glass windows with a large, double-hung opening in the center. The upper sash of this window contains a panel with a leaded glass design. The projecting base of the dormer is supported by brackets attached to the second-story eaves below. Tin cresting stretches across the ridgeline, and terminates at a corbeled brick chimney at each end. Fluted Ionic columns with turned balusters between them rise atop paneled bases and support the front porch roof. The double-door entrance is flanked by similarly detailed columns. The gabled pediment over the entrance has a tympanum with scrollwork and dentils. Concrete steps and an iron railing, both apparently later additions, lead up to the porch from the walkway. The fenestration consists of double-hung, wooden sash windows of varying dimensions and groupings, usually with one-over-one lights. The upper sash in the front parlor window has detailed tracery, and a fixed transom with stained glass occurs above it. The dormer windows have small squares of colored glass surrounding a larger central pane. The spacious interior is laid out with a central hall plan, and
includes 12 rooms, two baths (one of which is original), and a rear
sleeping porch. A kitchen, butler's pantry, enclosed rear porch,
parlor, dining room, and bathroom occupy the first floor. The wooden
double doors of the main entrance are adorned with festoons, pediments,
and beveled glass, and exemplify the sumptuous architectural details
found in the house. Oak wainscoting, built-in seats and bookcases,
a double-landing staircase with bronze candelabra atop the newel All but one of the original pocket doors installed throughout the house were removed in the 1920's, and replaced with hinged wooden doors which feature glass panels. All four of the bedrooms, one bathroom, and the trunk room occupy the second floor. The upstairs woodwork was carved from curly pine; the flooring is unadorned pine. Built-in storage drawers and cedar closets survive in the trunk room. An unfinished floored attic is used for storage. Exterior modifications of the Weisman-Hirsch House include (1) the extension of the second story to the west about 1912 to create a sleeping porch, (2) the enclosure of the cistern porch on the south side of the rear kitchen extension, and (3) the addition of the second story bath above the enclosed porch. Other minor changes have occurred over the years, such as repainting with different colors, reroofing with different materials, and installing front porch handrails. None of them is irreversible. Other structures that were once a part of the Weisman- Hirsch complex (a laundry, well house, barn, woodhouse) are no longer extant, but a small, four-bay, board-and-batten servants' house remains. This rectangular structure has a simple gabled roof, and an attached porch with shed roof shading two central doors. Windows are double hung with four- over-four lights. The Weisman-Hirsch House just south of the courthouse square in
Marshall, Texas, commands an imposing view of the county seat. The
residence was built with elements from the Queen Anne and Colonial
Revival styles, and was designed for Joe Weisman, a native of Syracuse,
New York, by architect C.G. Lancaster. A resourceful and successful
merchant, Weisman held various civic posts during his lifetime and
enjoyed a large measure of influence in the city's thriving Jewish
community. Weisman's son-in-law Joe Nathan Hirsch, a Joe and Lena Young Weisman, leaders in Marshall's Jewish community, commissioned architect C.G. Lancaster and a builder remembered only as "Brink" to construct the present residence in 1900, after their first home burned in 1898. Lancaster also designed the city's landmark Ginocchio Hotel (1893-96), and supervised the construction of the Harrison County courthouse (1900) which was designed by J. Riely Gordon. The Marshall Morning Star is filled with accolades for the patriarch of the Weisman family. "The brilliant career of J. Weisman, who has led the way in the introduction of many important business methods, has built up a mercantile business that would be a credit to any of the larger cities of the Union," reads a clipping from an undated, May 1894 issue of the Morning Star. In addition to his business, Weisman also found time to devote
to the construction and support of the Moses Montefiore Temple,
Marshall's first synagogue. Mrs. Weisman was an equally devoted
and strong advocate for the temple, and organized the Jewish Fair
to raise funds to build the edifice. Known locally as "Dr.
Lena," Mrs. Weisman enjoyed a thriving career as the neighborhood
homeopathic practitioner. A student of a Dr. Peterman, she performed
diagnostic examinations and dispensed pharmaceuticals to all Valerie Weisman (1890-1963), remembered by her family as an extremely generous philanthropist, attended the University of Texas, Austin, from 1908 to 1910. Like her mother, she was a community activist and served as president of the Sisterhood of Moses Montefiore for many years. In 1910, she married Joe Nathan Hirsch (1883-1966), a native of Campti, Louisiana. Hirsch was an orphan when he came to Marshall in 1895. Valerie's father hired Hirsch as his stockboy and allowed him to take his lodgings in the store's loft. A favored employee, Hirsch received a number of promotions over the years, and upon Weisman's death, was named general manager of Weisman's business. He was active in several civic organizations, most notably the Chamber of Commerce and the Marshall Board of Education. Toward the end of the 1940's, younger Jewish families began to move from Marshall to Longview, the new economic center, causing the local Jewish population to decline. The Moses Montefiore Temple was finally demolished to make room for a municipal complex. Today, only three architecturally significant residences from Marshall's age of Jewry remain. A family caretaker occupied the house from 1966 to 1971, when the Greg Beils purchased the structure from the Hirsch's children. Since 1971, The Weisman-Hirsch House has undergone considerable renovation. Ceilings which the Hirsches lowered at some unspecified date were raised to their original height. All of the walls of the house have been provided with wallpapers with late Victorian patterns. And several light fixtures found in the attic and believed to be original to the house were reinstalled. Finally, the exterior of the structure has been repainted in recent years. Marker Title: Wigfall House Marker Title: Judge J. B. Williamson House Marker Title: Mimosa
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