Grammer-Pierce House
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This California style craftsman bungalow was built in 1915 by A.H. Richter and his wife, Violet (Murdock) Richter, in what is now the Fairmount Historic District. It was purchased in 1917 by Mrs. N.E. Grammer, widow of Nathaniel Grammer. Nathaniel was a prominent Fort Worth businessman, owning the largest and oldest drug store in the city. Mrs. Grammer sold the house in 1940. In 1948, Alice (Lewis) Pierce, who was part Choctaw Indian, purchased the house after she and her husband, Mark, moved to Fort Worth to reestablish themselves following the stock market crash of 1929. They sold the house in 1970.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This California-style craftsman bungalow rose in 1915 in what is now Fort Worth's Fairmount Historic District. In 1917 it was bought by the widow of Nathaniel Grammer, a prominent businessman who owned the city's largest and oldest drug store. After 1948 it belonged to Alice Pierce, of Choctaw descent, whose family had moved to Fort Worth to rebuild their fortunes after the 1929 crash.
Why it matters
The home reflects the residential architecture and shifting fortunes of Fort Worth's early-twentieth-century commercial families.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Nathaniel Grammer
- · Alice Pierce
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fairmount-Southside Historic District
Fort Worth, TX
The Fairmount-Southside Historic District spreads across roughly 375 acres and 100 blocks just south of downtown Fort Worth, with more than 1,200 contributing homes and buildings. Platted largely between 1883 and 1907 during the boom that followed the railroad's 1876 arrival, its additions—led by the 1890 Fairmount Addition—drew middle-income workers, and streetcar lines soon carried doctors, lawyers, and railroad men to and from their homes. Its cottages, bungalows, and foursquares chart the evolution of domestic style from Queen Anne to Craftsman.
Baker Funeral Home
Fort Worth, TX
After working as a Pullman porter for the Santa Fe Railroad, James Nathan Baker, Sr. opened a funeral home for Cleburne's African American community in 1917 and became a licensed embalmer in 1922. Moving to Fort Worth in 1926, he built the Baker Undertaking Company into a regional enterprise that added a community ambulance service, a burial association, and a cemetery, serving Black families across the area. Passed down through four generations, the business remains a landmark tied to Fort Worth's historic Black churches, leaders, and neighborhoods.
Westbrook Estate
Fort Worth, TX
Perched on a bluff overlooking the Fort Worth Zoo, this 2½-story Tudor Revival home was built in 1928 for oilman Roy A. Westbrook and his wife Gladys, in a Park Hill neighborhood laid out by the celebrated Hare and Hare landscape firm. Prominent Fort Worth architect Joseph L. Pelich designed it with pegged half-timbering, slate gables, marble fireplaces, and leaded glass. Westbrook's fortune came from the Hendrick Oilfield in Winkler County, and he helped found the Fort Worth Petroleum Club.
Ponton, Dr. Arvel and Faye, House
Fort Worth, TX
Built around 1920 as Fort Worth's Mistletoe Heights was emerging as a fashionable enclave for merchants and professionals, this Spanish Eclectic home was designed by noted local architect Joseph R. Pelich, with a clay tile roof, arched openings, stucco walls and wrought-iron detailing. Its first residents were Dr. Arvel Ponton, who helped establish the city's Protestant Hospital and later his own Pelich-designed clinic, and his wife Faye.