M.B. Lockett Building
Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on the site of an 1840s store, this structure was built after the Civil War. In the 1880s it housed the mercantile firm of Rucker & Montgomery. Ohio native Melville Beveridge Lockett opened his store here in 1889 and remodeled the building to its present Victorian design in 1896. Prominent architectural features include cast iron columns, an elaborate pressed metal parapet, and a corner turret with a domed oriel bay. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1991
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Standing on the footprint of an 1840s store, this building rose after the Civil War and by the 1880s housed the mercantile firm of Rucker & Montgomery. In 1889 Ohio-born merchant Melville Beveridge Lockett opened his own store here, and in 1896 he reshaped it into the exuberant Victorian design still visible today. Cast iron columns, a pressed-metal parapet, and a turreted corner bay mark it as a showpiece of a booming county-seat business district.
Why it matters
It reflects the commercial optimism and ornate architecture of small-town Texas during the Gilded Age.
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Related people
- · Melville Beveridge Lockett
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Emzy Taylor
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