HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Jones-Sweet House

Geneva, Sabine County, Texas

Marker Inscription

C. A. Jones (1869-1962) used pine lumber grown on his own land to build the original two-room portion of this home before his marriage in 1892 to Roxie Horne (1876-1941). Jones, who operated a general store and shingle mill, later enlarged the house hauling stones to this site by oxcart for the chimneys. In 1907 he sold the structure to his father-in-law W. W. Horne (1841-1926), a prosperous farmer and Confederate Veteran, who further enlarged it. Acquired in 1937 by Horne's granddaughter Imogene (Mrs. Grover) Sweet, the property has been continuously owned by family members.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Around 1892 C. A. Jones milled pine from his own East Texas land to raise the first two rooms of this Sabine County home, hauling stone by oxcart for its chimneys as he enlarged it over the years. A storekeeper and shingle-mill operator, Jones eventually sold the house to his father-in-law, a prosperous farmer and Confederate veteran, and it has remained in the same family across the generations. The home is a quiet monument to the self-reliant timber economy of the Piney Woods.

Why it matters

Homesteads built from a family's own timber and labor illustrate the resourceful rural economy that settled East Texas after the Civil War.

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Related people

  • · C. A. Jones
  • · Roxie Horne Jones
  • · W. W. Horne

Themes & tags

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