HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

R. N. Younger Home

Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Victorian home built 1889 by Dr. R. N. Younger, church, banking and school leader. Southern exposure in 10 of 12 rooms and halls. Fine beveled mirrors in 3 of 6 hand-carved mantels. Bought 1923 by Sullivans, noted teachers, heirs of first owner of the site. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Dr. R. N. Younger, a leader in his church, bank, and schools, built this Victorian home in Whitesboro in 1889. Its designers filled ten of the twelve rooms with southern light and adorned it with fine beveled mirrors and six hand-carved mantels. In 1923 it passed to the Sullivans, noted teachers and heirs of the land's first owner.

Why it matters

The house reflects the confident prosperity of Gilded Age small-town Texas, where a single civic-minded professional could shape a community's finance, faith, and learning.

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