G. G. Nettles Home
Livingston, Polk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1895 of long leaf pine with cypress siding and trim. Design, Victorian, with handmade gingerbread trim. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Raised in 1895 from long-leaf pine with cypress siding, this East Texas home is a fine example of Victorian domestic architecture, complete with handmade gingerbread trim. Such ornamented frame houses were a point of pride in prosperous small towns during the Gilded Age, showcasing the skill of local carpenters and the reach of the region's timber industry.
Why it matters
The house embodies the late-nineteenth-century building tradition of the East Texas pine belt, where abundant timber and Victorian taste combined in the homes of a rising middle class.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · G. G. Nettles
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Livingston Telephone Company
Livingston, TX
Organized on August 3, 1903, the Livingston Telephone Company became Polk County's oldest public utility, a locally owned exchange running a 24-hour switchboard above a downtown building. It began with just 40 hand-cranked telephones, growing to 124 by the time creosoted poles went up in 1909. In 1959 the exchange finally converted to fully automatic dialing.
"Polk County Enterprise"
Livingston, TX
Founded in 1882 as the "East Texas Pinery" by the Stockton brothers, this Livingston newspaper took the name "Polk County Enterprise" around 1903. When it installed its first linotype machine in 1920, the event was such a marvel that the local school let out so pupils could watch the machine set type. The paper carried on under later publishers as a fixture of county life.
Livingston
Livingston, TX
Founded in 1846 as the seat of Polk County on a hundred acres donated by Moses L. Choate, Livingston grew into the trade, education, and social hub for the sawmill towns and Trinity River boat landings around it — Sam Houston himself is said to have danced at the nearby Old Andress Inn in the early 1850s. Texas's only Indian reservation, home to the Alabama-Coushatta tribe, lies close by. Long anchored in ranching and timber, the area saw major oil and gas development after 1930.
First State Bank of Livingston
Livingston, TX
Founded in 1910 as the Guaranty State Bank under president H.D. Reynolds, this Livingston institution took its present name in 1925. Its early leadership reads like a roster of the town's merchants and civic figures, from store owners to a druggist, with the Muller family serving as leaders since its founding. Now at its third location, it reflects the tight weave of banking and small-town commerce in early-twentieth-century Texas.