Rabb House
Smithville, Bastrop County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Virgil Sullivan Rabb, Jr. (1870-1943), came to Smithville in 1891 with his family when his father bought the Calcasieu Lumber Company. The Rabb family had been in this area since receiving land grants in Fayette County in 1823. Rabb ran the lumber company for his father and became a prominent local citizen. In 1912, he and his wife, Lillian (McCollum) (d. 1960), built this home with Queen Anne design and classical ornamentation, a two-story wrapped porch, asymmetrical plan, ionic columns and entry detailed with bull's-eye molding, transoms and sidelights. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Virgil Sullivan Rabb, Jr., came to Smithville in 1891 when his father bought the Calcasieu Lumber Company, a business Virgil would run and build into local prominence — his family's roots in the area reaching back to Fayette County land grants of 1823. In 1912 he and his wife Lillian built this Queen Anne home, rich with classical detail: a two-story wraparound porch, Ionic columns, and entryways trimmed with bull's-eye molding, transoms, and sidelights. It stands as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Why it matters
The Rabb House ties the fortunes of the East Texas lumber industry to the elegant domestic architecture of a prospering railroad-era town.
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Related people
- · Virgil Sullivan Rabb, Jr.
- · Lillian McCollum Rabb
Themes & tags
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