Beard House
Jefferson, Marion County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1860 with kitchen detached, in custom of Old South. Represents cottage type. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1860 in the riverport town of Jefferson, the Beard House is a cottage-type dwelling raised on the eve of the Civil War. Its kitchen stood detached from the main house, a common practice in the Old South meant to keep heat and fire risk away from the living quarters. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1966.
Why it matters
The house preserves the everyday domestic architecture of antebellum Texas, where building customs carried the imprint of the wider plantation South.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
William Clark Residence
Jefferson, TX
The two back rooms of this house are thought to date before 1852, built by Allen Urquhart, the founder of the riverport town of Jefferson. In 1885 the merchant William Clark bought the place and added three front rooms, living here for forty-three years while serving as postmaster, county judge, and Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of Texas.
Rowell Home
Jefferson, TX
Built about 1862 by civic leader Q. Bateman, this Jefferson home dates to the era when the town was a thriving inland riverport in East Texas. A. H. Rowell bought the house in 1884, and it retained its original gaslight fixtures and other period relics into the twentieth century. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1966.
First Methodist Church
Jefferson, TX
Founded in 1844 with the Rev. James Baldridge as its first pastor, this Methodist congregation replaced its log church in 1860 with what was called the most imposing brick church west of the Mississippi. Its bell, cast from 1,500 Mexican silver dollars, still rings in the present building, erected in 1884.
Captain William Perry
Jefferson, TX
Arriving about 1840, William Perry helped turn Jefferson into a thriving inland port, running a shipping business and dredging a turning basin so boats could work the Big Cypress Bayou. He grew wealthy in land and shipping, tried his luck in the California gold rush, and served as Jefferson's mayor in 1863–64 before being fatally shot on his way home after midnight in 1869.