Woodworth House
Refugio, Refugio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This Victorian home was erected for newspaperman L.H. Woodworth (1864-1921) and his wife Mary Frances Power (Swift) (1871-1957), granddaughter of empresario James Power, who founded Refugio. The first floor was built in 1900 and the second story added in 1907. The central octagonal bay room dominates the galleried structure, designed by Julius Leffland. Later occupied by the Woodworths' daughter Mrs. Thelma Heard, the house was restored in 1974 by W.W. Harkins, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This galleried Victorian home was built for newspaperman L. H. Woodworth and his wife Mary Frances Power Swift, a granddaughter of empresario James Power, who founded Refugio. Designed by architect Julius Leffland, its first floor went up in 1900 and a second story followed in 1907, crowned by a distinctive central octagonal bay room. Passed down to the Woodworths' daughter, the house was carefully restored in 1974.
Why it matters
The home links a working Texas newspaper family to the empresario era of Mexican land grants that first drew settlers to the Gulf Coast, spanning generations of the community Power founded.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Refugio, on the Texas coastal plain, has roots that reach back to the Spanish mission era and to the colonization of Texas under Mexico. In the 1830s, Irish-born empresario James Power helped bring settlers to this area under a colonization contract, and the town of Refugio grew from that effort.
By 1900, when this house's first floor was built, Texas was changing fast. Railroads were linking small towns to wider markets, and local newspapers were central to civic life, carrying news, advertising and opinion to readers across the county.
The decade that followed brought more prosperity and ambition to many Texas towns, and houses like this one reflect it. The addition of a second story in 1907 suggests a family whose fortunes, and whose hopes for the house, were growing along with the community.
People & events
The house was built for L. H. Woodworth, a newspaperman, and his wife, Mary Frances Power (Swift). Mary Frances carried a direct link to Refugio's founding: she was a granddaughter of James Power, the empresario who founded the town. Her marriage to a local newspaperman joined an old founding family to the modern business of informing a community.
The Woodworths hired Julius Leffland to design their home. He gave it a distinctive centerpiece, an octagonal bay room at the heart of the galleried structure. The first floor went up in 1900, and seven years later a second story was added.
The house stayed in the family after L. H. Woodworth's death in 1921. Mary Frances lived until 1957, and the couple's daughter, Mrs. Thelma Heard, later occupied the home. In 1974 W. W. Harkins, Jr. restored it, and two years later it was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Its place in the American story
The Woodworth House links two very different chapters of American history. Through Mary Frances Power, it reaches back to the empresario system, when land grants drew settlers into Texas while it was still part of Mexico. Through L. H. Woodworth, it reaches forward into the era of the small-town newspaper, one of the great engines of American community life.
Architecturally, the house belongs to the late Victorian period, when homeowners across the country embraced wide galleries, bays and picturesque shapes. The octagonal bay room is a lively local expression of that national taste.
Its restoration in the 1970s also reflects a wider movement. In those years, communities across the United States increasingly worked to save historic homes rather than tear them down, and landmark designations like this one helped recognize their value.
If you visit
The octagonal bay room is the feature to find first. It dominates the design and gives the house its personality, and you can see how the galleries wrap around it to create shade and catch Gulf Coast breezes.
Try to spot the difference between the 1900 first floor and the 1907 second story. Knowing that the house grew in stages makes it more interesting to look at, like reading a family's story in brick and wood.
This is a private home, so enjoy it respectfully from the street. Refugio rewards a slow stroll, and a visit here fits well into a drive along the Texas coastal plain, where the history of missions, empresarios and early settlers is layered into town after town.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · L. H. Woodworth
- · Mary Frances Power Swift
- · James Power
- · Julius Leffland
Themes & tags
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