Joseph A. Hamilton House
Wharton, Wharton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Ohio, Joseph Andrew Hamilton served in the Union army during the Civil War. About 1866 he settled in Wharton, where he held a variety of local political offices. Hamilton purchased this property in 1885 and moved his family into the existing one-story frame house. In 1907 the home was enlarged by raising the original structure and building a new addition underneath. The Hamilton house features influences of the neoclassical style of architecture. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1984.)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ohio native Joseph Andrew Hamilton fought for the Union during the Civil War, then settled in Wharton around 1866 and took up a string of local political offices in a defeated but reorganizing South. He bought this property in 1885 and moved his family into an existing one-story frame house, which was dramatically enlarged in 1907 by raising the original structure and building a new floor beneath it. The result carries touches of the neoclassical style.
Why it matters
A Union veteran making his life and career in Reconstruction-era Texas embodies the complicated reknitting of North and South after the war.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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