Old Livery Stable
Jefferson, Marion County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Near Trammel's Trace, a road charted 1813, used by thousands of settlers migrating to Texas. Site was owned 1868 by D. B. Culberson, later a congressman and a lawyer for defense in the Diamond Bessie murder trial. Culberson's 2-story building here was original site for the Chesterfield Club, East Texas' elite social group, 1870s-1930s. Present structure, built about 1900, housed horses and buggies for public hire until auto age. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This corner of Jefferson sits beside Trammel's Trace, the frontier road charted in 1813 that funneled thousands of settlers into Texas. The lot was owned in 1868 by D. B. Culberson — later a congressman and a defense lawyer in the notorious Diamond Bessie murder trial — and hosted the exclusive Chesterfield Club, East Texas's elite social circle for decades. The present building, raised around 1900, boarded horses and buggies for public hire until the automobile ended the livery trade.
Why it matters
A single lot here links a pioneer migration road, a Gilded Age social elite, and one of Texas's most famous murder trials, showing how much history can gather at one wayside in an old river town.
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Related people
- · D. B. Culberson
Related events
- · Diamond Bessie murder trial
Themes & tags
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