Faulk-Gauntt Building
Athens, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
An earlier building at this location housed the law offices of Senator J. J. Faulk and Judge W. L. Faulk. In the early 1890s the site was purchased by J. R. Gauntt, a local businessman. The son of pioneer area settlers, he operated a mercantile store, the Chany Tree, with his brother R. L. Gauntt, and later ran a monument business. In 1896 he commissioned the Hawn Lumber Company to build this two-story brick commercial structure near the rail lines, a primary business location in the early days of Athens. The upstairs area was first occupied by attorneys W. L. and J. J. Faulk. A native of Alabama, William Levin Faulk served as Henderson County judge, district clerk, and director of the Guaranty State Bank of Athens. His cousin James J. Faulk, born in Louisiana, served as county attorney, state representative, district attorney, state senator, special justice of the Texas Court of Civil Appeals, and the first mayor of the City of Athens. The downstairs area first housed the grocery store of Tom Barber. Other tenants in the Faulk-Gauntt Building have included dentists Dr. Dudley Payne and Dr. Thomas Matthews. The structure was later owned by descendants of W. L. Faulk. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This two-story brick commercial building went up in 1896, commissioned by businessman J.R. Gauntt on a site once home to the law offices of the Faulk family. Built near the rail lines at a prime spot in early Athens, it housed attorneys upstairs and a grocery below, and over the years sheltered a mercantile store, a monument business, and dental offices. Its tenants included prominent local figures — William Levin Faulk, a county judge, and James J. Faulk, who became the city's first mayor.
Why it matters
The Faulk-Gauntt Building embodies the commercial heart of a late-nineteenth-century Texas county seat, where law, trade, and civic leadership clustered around the courthouse square and the railroad.
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Related people
- · J.R. Gauntt
- · William Levin Faulk
- · James J. Faulk
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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