Nash Farm
Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
NASH FARM ESTABLISHED IN 1859, THE NASH FARM CONSTITUTES ONE OF THE LAST REMAINING AGRARIAN SITES FROM THE 19TH CENTURY IN NORTH TEXAS IN THE REGION WHERE THERE WAS ONCE A PERVASIVE LANDSCAPE OF FARMSTEADS. THOMAS JEFFERSON NASH, ELIZABETH MOUSER NASH AND THEIR FIRST THREE CHILDREN MIGRATED FROM KENTUCKY TO TEXAS IN 1854, FIRST SETTLING IN DALLAS AND THEN MOVING WITHIN A FEW MONTHS TO THE GRAPEVINE VICINITY. THEY WERE JOINED BY THOMAS’ BROTHER, WILLIAM P. NASH. BY 1859, THEY SETTLED PERMANENTLY ON THIS SITE. THE ORIGINAL FARM PROPERTY CONSISTED OF 450 ACRES WITH A VARIETY OF CROPS AND ANIMALS. DURING THE CIVIL WAR, THOMAS AND WILLIAM LEFT TO SERVE WITH CONFEDERATE TROOPS. THEY LEFT THE FARM IN THE CARE OF ELIZABETH AND THE CHILDREN; BOTH SURVIVED THE WAR AND RETURNED HOME TO ENLARGE THEIR FARM HOLDINGS. THE NASH FARMHOUSE, CONSTRUCTED IN 1869, IS A TWO-STORY I-HOUSE WITH A ONE-STORY ATTACHED PARTIAL WIDTH FRONT PORCH. THE PROPERTY ALSO BOASTS A 1907 SECONDARY GABLE-ROOFED WOOD FRAME TRANSVERSE BARN, OR CRIB BARN, A CEMETERY DATING TO 1878 AND A BRICK CISTERN DRESSED WITH A BRICK RIM AND DECORATIVE METAL CISTERN DRAW. IN 1888, THOMAS AND ELIZABETH GAVE LAND FOR THE RIGHT OF WAY TO THE COTTON BELT RAILROAD, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE GRAPEVINE AREA. THE FARM REMAINED IN THE NASH FAMILY UNTIL THE 1920s. REHABILITATION OF THE PROPERTY IN 2008 RESTORED THE FARM AND ITS HISTORIC STRUCTURES, PRESERVING THEM FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. IN 2010, THE PROPERTY WAS LISTED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2014
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1859 by Kentucky migrants Thomas Jefferson Nash and his wife Elizabeth, this 450-acre farm is one of the last surviving nineteenth-century agrarian sites in North Texas. During the Civil War the Nash brothers left to serve with Confederate troops while Elizabeth and the children kept the farm; all returned to expand their holdings. The 1869 I-house, a crib barn, cistern, and family cemetery still stand, and in 1888 the Nashes gave right-of-way to the Cotton Belt Railroad that spurred the region's growth.
Why it matters
The preserved farmstead offers a rare, intact window into the frontier agriculture and railroad-driven development that built North Texas.
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Related people
- · Thomas Jefferson Nash
- · Elizabeth Mouser Nash
- · William P. Nash
Themes & tags
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