James Newton and Eva Tabor Rayzor House
Denton, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
JAMES NEWTON RAYZOR WAS BORN DECEMBER 10, 1858 IN LOCKPORT, KENTUCKY. HE IMMIGRATED TO TEXAS IN THE FALL OF 1866 WITH HIS FAMILY AND SETTLED IN COLLIN COUNTY. IN 1871, THE FAMILY MOVED TO COOKE COUNTY WHERE RAYZOR LATER TAUGHT SCHOOL AT PRAIRIE GROVE AND AT PILOT POINT AND MUSTANG COMMUNITY IN DENTON COUNTY. HE MOVED TO DENTON IN 1882 AND MARRIED EVA TABOR, WHO WAS BORN MAY 18, 1864 IN PILOT POINT. RAYZOR WAS INVOLVED IN MANY BUSINESS VENTURES INCLUDING THE ALLIANCE MILL (NOW MORRISON MILLING CO.), ALLIANCE ICE COMPANY AND RAYZOR ICE COMPANY. HE WAS ACTIVE IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE MASONIC LODGE, SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE DENTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, WAS A MEMBER OF THE JOHN B. DENTON COLLEGE COMMITTEE THAT FOUNDED THE SCHOOL IN 1901 AND HELPED ESTABLISH THE STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (NOW TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY). RAYZOR SERVED AS A DEACON AT THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH FOR 44 YEARS AND ALSO AUTHORED SEVERAL BOOKS ABOUT RELIGION, HISTORY AND HIS 1923 TRAVELS TO EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND. JAMES AND EVA PURCHASED THE PROPERTY IN 1906 AND COMPLETED THE HOME IN 1909 WITH CONTRACTOR M.T. GOODWIN. THIS PRAIRIE STYLE HOME FEATURES HORIZONTAL LINES, EXAGGERATED OVERHANGING EAVES AND A HIPPED ROOF OVER THE SECOND-STORY BEDROOMS. RIBBONS OF WINDOWS LINE THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SIDE OF THE HOME, AND REPETITIVE MILLWORK AND TONGUE AND GROOVE OAK FLOORS COMPLEMENT THE INTERIOR. THE SCREENED SLEEPING PORCH CONTAINED NUMEROUS BEDS FOR COMPANY AND THE FAMILY DURING HOT SUMMERS. AFTER JAMES AND EVA PASSED AWAY IN 1938 AND 1939, RESPECTIVELY, THEIR DESCENDANTS OWNED THE HOME UNTIL 1978.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Newton Rayzor came to Texas from Kentucky as a boy in 1866 and became a teacher before settling in Denton, where he married Eva Tabor in 1882. A tireless civic figure, he ran the Alliance Mill and ice companies, led the chamber of commerce, and helped found both John B. Denton College and the state school that became Texas Woman's University. James and Eva completed this Prairie-style home, with its broad eaves and ribbon windows, in 1909.
Why it matters
Rayzor's mills and school-founding show how one enterprising citizen could knit together the industry and education that turned a frontier town into a modern city.
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Related people
- · James Newton Rayzor
- · Eva Tabor Rayzor
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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