Captain N. A. Birge House
Sherman, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Connecticut native Noble Allan Birge (1832-1902) came to Texas prior to the Civil War. Settling in Jefferson with his wife and children, he was the first elected sheriff of Marion County in 1860. Following his service as a captain in the Confederate army, Birge became a leading businessman in Jefferson. The owner of a livery stable and numerous city lots, he was an active civic leader involved in such endeavors as a railroad company and a navigation company. The Birge family moved to Grayson County in 1874, settling first on a farm north of Sherman. N. A. Birge soon became a prominent local businessman and industrialist, operating a large cotton brokerage firm and other cotton related businesses. This home was built for Birge in 1896, shortly after the great Sherman tornado destroyed an 1877 structure on the same site. Exhibiting both Queen Anne and classical revival style influences, the house features flamboyant classical revival touches in its gables with garlands, giant order Roman Ionic columns, pedimented (segmental arch) windows, and smaller columns that are half-Doric and half-turned. The home remained in the Birge family until 1969. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Connecticut-born Noble Allan Birge came to Texas before the Civil War, served as Marion County's first sheriff and then as a Confederate captain, and afterward became a leading cotton merchant. He moved his family to Grayson County in 1874, and after the great Sherman tornado destroyed his earlier home, he built this exuberant Queen Anne and classical revival house in 1896, where the Birge family remained until 1969.
Why it matters
The house is a showcase of Gilded Age ambition on the North Texas cotton frontier, where a Confederate veteran turned soldier's credentials into an industrialist's fortune.
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Related people
- · Noble Allan Birge
Themes & tags
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