C.G. Lancaster
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Renowned architect Cornelius Granberry Lancaster was born on March 4, 1863, in the city of Marshall. He studied architecture at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) from 1892-1895, but did not complete his degree. He returned to Marshall where he began to work as an architect. Lancaster married Donye Birdsong (1866-1954) and the two had six children together. Their son, Jesse Cornelius Lancaster (1901-1992), worked with Cornelius for a few years before moving to Tyler. In 1895, Lancaster partnered with James Riely Gordon (1863-1937), an architect from San Antonio. The two collaborated on the beaux-arts style Harrison County courthouse completed in 1901. Lancaster then supervised the construction and was named supervisor of all improvements and repairs of the courthouse during a 1910s renovation. Lancaster designed a variety of buildings in Marshall including the Ginnochio Hotel, city hall and Elks Club building. He also designed residential, commercial, civic and educational buildings throughout the state. Changes in architectural styles are reflected in his works, from Richardsonian Romanesque to Classical Revival and Art Nouveau. Lancaster's business was forced to close in 1939 due to conditions brought about by the Great Depression. That same year, he went to work as a supervisor for the Work Projects Administration in Dallas. Lancaster passed away on December 1, 1947, but his legacy lives on through the many buildings he designed. (2019)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Marshall in 1863, Cornelius Granberry Lancaster studied architecture at Texas A&M and returned home to design many of his town's landmarks, from the Ginnochio Hotel to city hall and the Elks Club. In 1895 he partnered with San Antonio architect James Riely Gordon on the Beaux-Arts Harrison County courthouse, and over his long career his work traced the shifting fashions of American architecture from Richardsonian Romanesque to Classical Revival. The Depression forced his practice to close in 1939, after which he supervised WPA projects in Dallas until his death in 1947.
Why it matters
Lancaster's buildings show how regional architects gave shape and civic dignity to Gilded Age and early-modern Texas towns, leaving a built legacy that outlived the man.
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Related people
- · Cornelius Granberry Lancaster
- · James Riely Gordon
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Hub Shoe Store
Marshall, TX
Mose Weisman opened the Hub Shoe Store on Marshall's East Austin Street in 1897, part of a Bavarian-Jewish family that had made its way from Germany to Syracuse and on to East Texas. His nephew Louis Kariel, a World War I veteran, took over in 1924 and became Marshall's first Jewish mayor—a tradition of civic service his son carried on. The store served the town for more than a century before closing in 2001.
Elks Building
Marshall, TX
Designed by prominent East Texas architect Cornelius Granville Lancaster, the 1903 Elks Building was conceived as a showpiece of Marshall's downtown shopping district. It served as headquarters for Elks Lodge 683, which had organized in 1901 at Newman Hall, and hosted the lodge's meetings and events until 1953. The building remains a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Joe Weisman and Company
Marshall, TX
Joe Weisman, a Jewish merchant born in Syracuse, New York, in 1847, followed an uncle to Marshall, Texas, in 1866 and drew five siblings after him. In 1878 he founded Joe Weisman and Company, which grew from a mercantile store into a downtown department store and, through the intermarried Hirsch family, stayed in operation for more than a century. Devout members of Temple Moses Montefiore, the Weismans and Hirsches poured support into local churches, charities, and schools including Wiley College and the future East Texas Baptist University.
Weisman-Hirsch House
Marshall, TX
Department store owner Joe Weisman received this Marshall property from his father-in-law before marrying Lena Young in 1881; after the first house burned, this one rose in 1901, designed by C. G. Lancaster, architect of the Ginocchio Hotel. The Weismans' daughter Valerie and her husband Joe Nathan Hirsch later made it their home. For years the residence served as a social center for the Jewish community of East Texas.