HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Ginocchio-Cook-Pedison House

Marshall, Harrison County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Italian-American business leader Charles Ginocchio (1844-98) and wife Roxana settled in Marshall in 1871; built this home, 1886. Architect: C. G. Lancaster, designer of county courthouse. In Ginocchio household was a nephew, George J. Signaigo, whose parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Behn Cook, bought place in 1900, had Signaigos live with them until 1912, retained title until 1945. Owners since 1945: Grecian-Americans, Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Pedison, ex-operators of Ginocchio Hotel dining room. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Italian immigrant Charles Ginocchio, a rising Marshall businessman, settled in the East Texas town with his wife Roxana in 1871 and built this home in 1886. It was designed by C. G. Lancaster, architect of the county courthouse. Passing through the related Cook and Signaigo families and, from 1945, the Greek-American Pedisons who had run the dining room at Ginocchio's own hotel, the house traces an unbroken line of immigrant entrepreneurs.

Why it matters

The home shows how Italian and Greek immigrants helped build the commercial life of a small Southern railroad town in the decades after the Civil War.

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Related people

  • · Charles Ginocchio
  • · Roxana Ginocchio
  • · C. G. Lancaster

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Ginocchio Hotel and Restaurant

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