Old G. D. Tarlton House
Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Victorian style. Built in 1895 by noted attorney Greene Duke Tarlton (1852-1931), from Louisiana. House was one of finest in town, with hand-carved mantels, stained glass windows, "speaking tube" between kitchen and third floor bedroom, and a dumbwaiter. Cistern on back porch supplied cool water all year round. Outbuildings included stable and coach house. On grounds were grape arbor, orchard, and garden. Restored by Dana L. Bennett. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -- 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1895 by noted attorney Greene Duke Tarlton, a Louisiana native, this Victorian home was among the finest in Hillsboro. Its refinements included hand-carved mantels, stained-glass windows, a speaking tube linking the kitchen to a third-floor bedroom, and a dumbwaiter, while the grounds held a stable, coach house, orchard and grape arbor. It was later restored and recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1972.
Why it matters
The house embodies the Gilded Age prosperity of a Central Texas county seat, when a leading professional could build a mansion of urban sophistication.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Greene Duke Tarlton
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Baptist Church of Hillsboro
Hillsboro, TX
Baptist preaching reached this part of Central Texas with the Rev. J. M. Samford in the 1840s, and after Hill County was organized in 1853 the county seat of Hillsboro drew its own congregation. The Baptist Church of Hillsboro was organized in 1874 and fully established the next year with a handful of charter members, its early growth aided by neighboring Baptist churches. Over the following century it replaced its first frame building with brick, added schools and sanctuaries, and hosted legendary Texas preachers including George W. Truett and J. M. Dawson.
Sims-Womack House
Hillsboro, TX
This Hill County house began before 1870 as two rooms with a detached kitchen and grew under Dr. William Thomas Sims, a prominent early Hillsboro dentist and Methodist and civic leader who bought it in 1906. Later it passed to Leroy and Lalia Womack, business and civic figures who purchased it on their 1934 wedding day. It has remained in the family ever since.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Hillsboro, TX
St. Mary's Episcopal congregation traces to a mission founded in the 1870s, and Bishop Alexander C. Garrett laid the cornerstone of its first church in 1886. A tornado destroyed that building in 1894, and the present brick church—blending Gothic Revival with Prairie School touches, cast-stone detail, and a battlemented tower—was completed in 1911. The mission became a full parish in 1914.
Hill County Jail
Hillsboro, TX
Built in 1893 as Hill County's third jail, this brick-and-limestone building was designed by Waco architect W. C. Dodson, who also drew the county courthouse. Its Victorian and medieval-revival lines dress up a practical plan: living quarters for the sheriff and jailer in front, steel-clad prisoner cells in back. It was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1981.