The Figures House

🏛️The era

When Bartholomew Figures built this cottage in the 1850s, Jefferson was one of the most remarkable towns in Texas. It sat on Big Cypress Bayou, and thanks to unusual natural conditions on the waterways connecting it to the Red River, steamboats could reach the town. That made Jefferson a busy inland port, shipping cotton out and bringing goods in for a wide stretch of East Texas.

It was a prosperous, growing place, and builders of the era favored the Greek Revival style. With its columns, symmetry, and classical proportions, the style was hugely popular across the United States in the decades before the Civil War. In East Texas it often took the modest form of a well-proportioned cottage like this one, which brought a touch of classical dignity to everyday homes.

Jefferson's fortunes later turned. After a great natural logjam on the Red River was cleared in the 1870s, water levels on the route to Jefferson dropped, and the steamboat trade faded. Railroads took over commerce elsewhere. The town's boom ended, but that slowdown helped preserve many of its older homes, which is why Jefferson is so rich in historic architecture today.

👥People & events

The house begins with Bartholomew Figures, who had been a local innkeeper. That background fits the bustling port town Jefferson was in the 1850s, when travelers, merchants, and river traffic kept innkeepers busy. Figures built this typical East Texas Greek Revival cottage, and later his son, James C. Figures, became one of its owners.

For a time the house passed through many hands. The marker notes a string of short-term owners, the kind of turnover common in a town whose economy rose and fell with the river trade.

Then came the person who gave the house its longest chapter. Mary Eglentine Whitfield, born in 1852, was a dressmaker who owned and lived in the house from 1883 until 1928, some forty-five years. In an era when a woman owning her own home and earning her own living was far from the norm, her long tenure stands out. A skilled dressmaker was essential to a town's social life, sewing everything from everyday clothing to garments for weddings and special occasions. She lived until 1941.

Later, members of J. H. Benefield's family owned the house as landlords from 1936 to 1970. In 1970 it was sold to Tommie Wurtsbaugh Glick, an artist, who restored it. Her work helped the cottage earn recognition as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1973.

🇺🇸Its place in the American story

The Figures House shows a side of American history that grand mansions often miss: the lives of ordinary working people. Innkeepers, landlords, and especially a self-supporting dressmaker are the kind of figures who kept nineteenth-century towns running, yet they rarely appear in history books. A modest cottage that a working woman owned for nearly half a century tells us a great deal about how women made their way economically.

The house also reflects the Greek Revival movement, one of the most widespread architectural styles in early America. Inspired by classical Greece and tied in the popular imagination to ideals of democracy, it spread from the East Coast across the South and into Texas, showing up on courthouses, churches, and humble homes alike.

Finally, the restoration by an artist in 1970 fits a broader national story: the historic preservation movement that gained momentum in the mid-twentieth century. Across the country, individuals began rescuing old buildings and recognizing that everyday structures, not just famous landmarks, were worth saving. Jefferson became one of the places where that idea took strong root.

🧭If you visit

Jefferson is one of the best towns in Texas for walking among historic homes, and this cottage is part of that rich fabric. Look for the hallmarks of Greek Revival design: the balanced, symmetrical front, the classical proportions, and the sense of order that builders of the 1850s prized, even in a modest home.

As you stand there, think about the women and men who lived in it. Picture Mary Eglentine Whitfield at work with needle and thread across the decades, as the town around her changed from a river port to a quieter place. Then picture the restoration that brought the house back to life in the 1970s.

Remember that this is a historic home, so enjoy it from the street and respect the privacy of whoever lives there. Jefferson makes a wonderful day trip or weekend stop in deep East Texas, and its walkable historic district, old bayou-side setting, and nearby lake country make it easy to slow down and soak in the nineteenth century.