﻿Dr. James Harper Starr and his wife Harriet moved to Nacogdoches in 1837, where he served as the president of the board of land commissioners and the Secretary of Treasury for the state. However, in 1840 he returned to his medical practice. But then, later changed occupations again; he became a land agent. In 1870, Starr and his son Frank opened the first bank in Marshall, Texas. Starr was instrumental in Texas's expansion as he aided in the growth of the railroad industry. He bought 52 acres for himself on which he and his wife lived and are now the land on which the historic site is located. Starr died in 1890, and Starr County is named in his honor.In 1868, Frank married Clara Clapp, and they built Maplecroft in 1871 on the land that belonged to his father. He and Clara had six daughters who grew up in the home and lived nearby once they married. The home of Ruth Starr Blake, the second youngest Starr's daughter, is a part of the historic site. She inherited Maplecroft and lived there until the end of her life. Ruth passed the home to her niece Clara Pope Willoughby, who eventually granted the home to the state as a preservation site.

Website

More Info

The mansion called Maplecroft was built in 1871 by the Starr family, who were very influential in the cotton and railroad industries. The site is comprised of multiple buildings that were homes to four generations of the Starr family for over 130 years. The State Historical Commission has been preserving and restoring the site, which is open to the public for tours.

Starr Family Home (Maplecroft)

This short drive through Marshall Texas starts and ends at institutions of higher education. The tour begins at Wiley College, an HBCU established shortly after the Civil War and moves on to Maplecroft, one of the city's many historic homes that was also built shortly after the war. The tour includes several historic churches and civic buildings as well as the Ginochio Historic District before ending at Marshall Hall on the campus of East Texas Baptist University. 

Wiley began as a school with two wood frame buildings located south of Marshall, Texas, in 1873. Following a 1906 fire that destroyed five of the college's buildings, the campus began the process of rebuilding. With a library funded by Andrew Carnegie and buildings such as Thirkield Hall (1919) Brainard Chapel (1924) and Dogan Hall (1925), Wiley grew into the first college to earn an "A" class rating by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in the South.&nbsp;

Wiley College became a leader in social organizations in the Southwest with the chartering of multiple early chapters of fraternities and sororities on campus. The college also played a pivotal role in forming the Southwestern Athletic Conference, introducing football and basketball to Black colleges in the area.&nbsp; Wiley went on to win many national championships in these sports, heavily outnumbering their opponents in the conference with wins.&nbsp; Winning on the court or field wasn’t the only strong point for Wiley College, as its debate team brought home a national championship in 1928 as well as invaluable publicity and a formidable reputation to the small college.

Melvin Tolson was held in high regard at Wiley for his scholarly background which included master’s degree from Columbia University. A published poet he taught a full class load and coached drama in addition to writing. He later created and coached a debate team starting in 1924.&nbsp;At the time, the segregated organization Pi Kappa Delta ran collegiate debates and dictated policies. Since Tolson was shut out of this organization, he created Alpha Phi Omega to serve historically Black colleges. By this time, his debate team had gained a formidable reputation in the debate world and was able to go up against some of the best and biggest Black colleges in the nation. Tolson soon began to have difficulty finding Black colleges who were willing to go up against his team. The pinnacle of the early debate team came in 1935 when Tolson and his students faced the University of Southern California Trojans, the national champions in debate at that time. Tolson’s team defeated the champions, an event that served as the inspiration for the Hollywood film “The Great Debaters,” where Denzel Washington portrayed Melvin Tolson.

In World War II, campus leaders established the Wiley College Committee on Community Service and National Defense. this organization worked with the country’s national defense resources to train for the aid of the program and community health. McLeod Hall, named for the eighth president, was built as a men’s residence hall for returning soldiers who wanted to continue their education and were able to do so using their G.I. benefits which led to record for enrollment for Wiley.&nbsp;&nbsp;During McLeod’s time, new resources became available to the college after it joined the United Negro College Fund in 1944. Dr. Thomas Winston Cole, Sr. was a 1934 alum of the college and became the tenth president in 1958. Dr. Cole’s administration saw Wiley become a full member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, as well the refurbishing and remodeling of many facilities on campus. The next major renovation of campus facilities came under the administration of Dr. Haywood L. Strickland, the sixteenth president named in 2000.&nbsp; He oversaw the beginning of construction of the Julius S. Scott, Sr. Chapel and major improvements to the science lab facilities on campus after securing record private gifts and increased funding.

The college offers three degree-granting divisions: Arts and Sciences, Education, and Business and Technology.&nbsp; The Division of General Education and Special Studies provides support to incoming freshman and guides the general education and developmental education programs of the college.&nbsp;&nbsp;Some notable alumni of Wiley College include James L. Farmer, Jr, who served in multiple national leadership positions as well as helping to found the Congress of Racial Equality, and Heman Marion Sweatt, who was the plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case which resulted in the desegregation of Texas Law School in 1950.

Constructed in 1919, Thirkfield Hall is the oldest remaining building on the Wiley College campus and is named in honor of Bishop Thurkfield, the former President of Gammon Theological Seminary. Wiley College is named for Bishop Isaac T. Wiley, is one of the oldest historically Black colleges west of the Mississippi River. The college was founded as a school for African Americans in 1873 by the Methodist Church and the Freedman's Aid Society. The first college for African Americans in Texas, Wiley began with seven faculty members and 160 students. The college has won national championships in debate and now offers undergraduate degrees in 17 areas.

Thirkield Hall, Wiley College

The congregation of First Baptist Church was founded in 1845 by Baptist missionary John Bryce who also served as an agent of President John Tyler in support of Texas becoming part of the United States. Bryce was assisted by George Washington Baines and others who lived in this area shortly before Texas joined the United States. The church held some of their first services in a brush arbor and then secured use of a local log schoolhouse. The school was the meeting place for the congregation until 1849&nbsp;when state legislator James McCown donated a small wood frame structure. This building was replaced in 1892 with a larger building. The church continued meeting at that 19th-century building until 1953 when the current sanctuary and children’s building were completed.

First Baptist Church was led by Reverend George Tucker following Bryce's service. Reverend W. T. Tardy succeeded Tucker as pastor and his term saw the founding of the College of Marshall, now known as East Texas Baptist University.&nbsp;Some of the biggest changes came to the church beginning in the 1980s. During this era, Dr. Jack Fritts established the Capital Improvements Campaign to raise money for renovations and repairs. Following Fritts’ resignation in 1984, Dr. H. Hollie Atkinson took leadership and continued making major renovations to the campus, including a new roof for the sanctuary, new pews, and stained glass windows. In 1996, Dr. Atkinson pushed the congregation to construct a new Family Life Center, which was completed across the street from the main building in 1998. He also started the “Meals on Wheels” ministry in Marshall, in which members of the church deliver pre-made meals to those who can’t get around well. This ministry continues through the church. Dr. Atkinson resigned in 2000, and following several other pastors, Ryan Berryhill began his service as pastor in 2012.

While the current church building for Marshall's First Baptist Church was completed in 1953, the history of this congregation predates Texas statehood. The congregation was founded by several men who played a role in support of the United State's annexation of Texas. In those early years, the congregation met at a schoolhouse until the first structures specifically for the church were completed in the late 1800s. To this day, the church continues to reach out to the community through multiple programs, including support of East Texas Baptist University. 

First Baptist Church, Marshall Texas

Telegraph communication began in Texas in 1854,
following the chartering of the Texas and Red River Telegraph Company. The
first office for this new company was opened a few weeks later in Marshall. The
newly established communication line offered connections to New Orleans and
Alexandria, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. In the next year, Houston
and Galveston also became connected to the telegraph network.&nbsp;The company
used treetops to hold their wires along the routes, but often offices had to
close down so workers could trace the route to repair wires that had broken due
to the wind. The next company to operate in the region, Texas and New Orleans Telegraph Company,
was chartered in 1856 and began construction to connect Galveston to San
Antonio and Austin. Soon after, these first two telegraph companies consolidated.&nbsp;The first permanent telegraph line and first railway telegraph line in Texas
was completed along the Galveston, Harrisburg, and Houston Railway between
Galveston and Houston in 1860. After this milestone, the South-Western Telegraph
Company consolidated and joined the&nbsp;American Telegraph Company and purchased
the new line and extended it to New Orleans from Galveston.

In 1866 the Western Union Telegraph Company absorbed
the American Telegraph Company. This company came to dominate the field with an
estimated 1,500 miles of telegraph wire throughout the state by 1870 and owning
89 of the 105 telegraph offices in Texas by 1874. This expansion continued with
the transcontinental railroad as more lines were completed along its route. A
military telegraph line was completed in 1876, connecting San Antonio with
other Army reservations. In 1885, the Galveston
News became the first Texas newspaper to use the telegraph with a special
leased wire between Dallas and Galveston. After merging with the Postal Telegraph
and Cable Company in 1943, Western Union became the only company operating in
Texas, employing over 2,800 people across 1,828 offices by 1949.

The Western Union merger made it one of the most
modern telecommunications companies in the world, as well as the only telegraph
company to operate in Texas after 1943. As communication technology rapidly
advanced through the 1960s, Western Union quickly expanded across 10 Texas
cities, eventually establishing a National Processing Center in Dallas that
received and processed payroll and accounting data from offices around the
nation. With this new center, the need for smaller offices diminished, and on February
9, 1972 the decision was made to close down the first telegraph office in Texas
at Marshall.

This small urban park is named in honor of the first telegraph office in Texas, which opened here in Marshall in 1854 and was operated by the Red River Telegraph Company. This telegraph office connected the city of Marshall to other telegraph offices in New Orleans and Alexandria, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. At the time, Marshall was the fourth largest town in the state due to its location on the new railroad through East Texas and the stagecoach service to Louisiana. The telegraph predated the telephone as a means of long-distance communication in the United States, and the growth of the new state of Texas was bolstered by this new invention. The park contains several historical markers that share the story of the Red River Telegraph company, which operated for nearly a century-and-a-half. 

Telegraph Park

Standing three stories, the Old Courthouse was built in the Neo-Classical/Beaux Arts style.&nbsp; This structure was the first in this style for architect James Riely Gordon. Yellow brick and carved Leuders limestone make up the main structure of the building and are accented by towering pink granite columns.&nbsp;&nbsp;The courthouse features a central octagonal dome with multiple accent points. Each corner of the foundation of the dome features a bronze eagle, with eight additional eagles on the pinnacle of each wing of the building. Four clocks surround the dome and are aligned with each wing extension of the building.&nbsp;&nbsp;During the building's operation, a worker hand cranked two hundred pounds of weights to the top of the tower every eight days to keep the chimes of the original clock in working order.&nbsp; At the apex of the dome rests a statue of the Goddess of Justice with scales on a lantern base.&nbsp; The interior of the building is known for its stained glass and paintings decorating the atrium and courtroom.

Harrison County was named for Jonas Harrison, a well-known lawyer and public official in the area, in 1839, when it was organized.&nbsp; In the same year, Marshall was established as a town in East Texas.&nbsp; In 1842, Marshall was named county seat as it was located in the geographical center of the county.&nbsp; By 1850, Marshall had become the fourth largest town in the state and was known for the class of wealthy land and slave owners that occupied the thriving plantations of the area in the 1860s.&nbsp; At the turn of the century, J. Riely Gordon’s design had come to life at the hands of C.G. Lancaster in the form of the Harrison County Courthouse. The original building did not include the east and west wings that are part of it today; those were additions built in 1924 and 1927.

The age of the building made extensive restoration and preservation a priority for the people of Harrison County. Throughout the mid-1900s, the statues surrounding the building saw more restoration, as the arm, wing, and scales on the Goddess of Justice and several damaged eagle wings were replaced with new metal.&nbsp; The wings were reoriented to face down in 1965 in an effort to reduce wind friction, but they were returned to the original upright position in 2009. In 2004, Harrison County students participated in a restoration fundraiser, a program called Eagles for Eagles, where they competed to raise the most money to aid the replication of their “adopted” eagle. All of this effort to restore the building wasn’t done to keep it as the courthouse, but instead to renovate the building for the new Harrison County Historical Museum in 2010. This museum has thousands of artifacts and a wide variety of exhibits featuring local history and attractions. The third floor of the building still houses government offices.

Completed in 1900, this former county courthouse is one of the most recognizable buildings in the region and is home to the Harrison County Historical Museum. The Neo-Classical building was designed by J. Riely Gordon and served as the county courthouse until 1964. The building is known for its iconic columns, towering dome, and the bronze statues that surround the dome and stand over the public square.

Old Harrison County Courthouse

The first Methodist preacher in the county was Dr. Job M. Baker, who came in 1839. War with the Cherokees forced him and his family to seek refuge in Fort Crawford not long after they arrived in the county. It was there that the congregation was formed as Baker started to preach, which attracted a growing number of congregants. From 1845 to 1853, the congregation worshipped in a schoolhouse before buying a building of their own in 1853. Then, as stated above, the congregation built its current church in 1861. Unfortunately for the contractors, the Civil War hit the local economy hard and they were not paid for their work until 1868.Marshall was one of the two headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department (the other was New Orleans), which was in charge of the Confederate war effort in an area encompassing Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (the portion of the state west of the Mississippi River), and Indian territory that would later become the state of Oklahoma. The region provided the Confederacy with important resources including rice, cotton, and sugar, and it also had large numbers of horses, mules, oxen, and cattle. It also provided the Confederacy with tens of thousands of soldiers for the war. The church was the first location of the conference of governors from these states. The governors of Texas and Missouri and representatives from Louisiana and Arkansas spoke during the 1862 conference.Over the years the church has been altered on several occasions, including major renovations in 1927, 1949, and 1958. The north facade, where the main entrance is, appears much as it did originally. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Located in the heart of Marshall, First Methodist Church is historically significant in the areas of architecture, religion, and, interestingly, military history. It was built in 1861 and is a rare example of monumental Greek Revival architecture in the state. It features a stuccoed exterior (covering brick), a large portico at the main entrance with square columns, a colonnaded cupola, and stained glass windows. The church was and continues to be the home of a Methodist congregation that was established in 1839. In terms of military history, the church has ties to the Civil War. In 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis held a conference of governors from the Trans-Mississippi states at the church to discuss the defense and administration of the region. Additionally, the Confederates stored supplies and ammunition in the church basement. 

First Methodist Church

William P. Hagerty was born in County Clare, Ireland (exactly when is unclear). As a devout Catholic, he apparently helped organize a failed rebellion against the British and as a result, fled to the United States in 1862. He first arrived in New York City and made his way to Philadelphia where relatives had been became a reporter. There, he saw a job ad for the Texas &amp; Pacific Railroad, applied, and trained to become an engineer.In 1876, he relocated to Marshall, which was the eastern terminus of the company's railroad line to the Pacific. Hagerty rose in the ranks and became, as noted above, the personal engineer of George J. Gould. He married his wife, Mollie, here in Marshall and they had five children together. They attended St. Joseph's Catholic Church, which is still located a block to the north (Hagerty bought the property on which the house stands to be close to the church). Tragically, he was killed in a train accident in 1906, and then Mollie died the next year. Their children moved away 1967 but still owned it. It fell into disrepair but a local doctor bought and rehabilitated it in 1972.

The Hagerty House was the first solid brick house erected in Marshall. Built in 1889, the house is also significant for its Italianate architecture and association with its namesake, William P. Hagerty, who was the personal engineer of George J. Gould, the president of the Texas & Pacific Railway. In terms of architecture, the house was designed by Thomas Higgins and built by craftsmen employed by the railway. The two-story house features a two-story porch, a cornice supported by brackets, and segmental arched, double-hung windows. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hagerty House remains a private residence today.


Hagerty House

Isaac Hochwald rose to become a successful businessman and a key player in the founding of the Moses Montefiore Synagogue. It is not clear where he was born exactly, but he was a twelve-year-old orphan in New Orleans when a French Jewish man, Lionel Kahn, adopted him. They moved to Marshall in 1887. There, Kahn and his brother, E. Kahn, opened the Great Railway Supply Store which became very successful. They sold plantation clothing and supplies and offered farmers credit at the start of the planting season. They also offered services to workers of the Texas &amp; Pacific Railway such as extending them credit, lending money, and cashing paychecks.Hochwald worked in the store and went to school at an all-boy academy. As a young man, he apparently attended college in Cincinnati where he obtained a business degree. He got married in 1891 to his wife, Amelia, and built the house in 1894. After the death of Lionel Kahn in 1896, Hochwald inherited Kahn's half of the business. Hochwald assumed full ownership when E. Kahn passed away in 1909. By then, the store was the most successful one in northeastern Texas.Hochwald contributed to the community in a number of ways beyond the business. He served as a trustee of the school system, organized and served as the first president of the Marshall Rotary Club, and established and owned the East Texas Baseball League. Furthermore, as noted above, Hochwald was actively involved in the local Jewish community. In addition to contributing funds to build the synagogue, which was built in 1900, he was president of the congregation for over 20 years.Hochwald died in 1956 and his daughter, Roberta, inherited the house. She, however, did not live there and sold it in 1960. Over the years, the house was altered on a number of occasions, including in 1912 when Hochwald expanded it. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

This attractive home is the historic Hochwald House, which was built by its namesake Isaac Hochwald, who was one of the prominent figures of the city's Jewish community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house, which Hochwald erected in 1894, is further notable for its design, which incorporates elements of the Mission, Stick and Colonial Revival architectural styles. It features a large, two-story porch with fluted columns topped by Ionic columns, a red tile roof, and painted decorative trusses. The house remains a private residence today. 

Hochwald House

Texas &amp; Pacific Railway MuseumThe Texas &amp; Pacific Railway built the depot in 1912. Its design combines the Prairie School and Mediterranean architectural styles, which, with its red brick exterior, gives it a distinctive appearance. The depot is the only building remaining that was once part of a large railroad complex. The museum features a variety of railroad artifacts and memorabilia on display, exhibits describing the history of the depot and railroad shops, and interactive displays such as a model train and pull whistle.Ginocchio HotelGinocchio built the hotel in 1896. The three-story building was designed by a man named C.G. Lancaster, who also helped design the old <a href="https://theclio.com/entry/62476" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harrison County Courthouse</a>. Lancaster designed the hotel to withstand the vibrations caused by the passing trains nearby. As such, the building features twenty-inch thick brick walls set on an ironstone foundation ten feet into the ground. Stores, a cafe, lobby, ballroom, and dining room occupied the first floor; the hotel rooms were located on the second and third floors. In the early 1900s, large numbers of immigrants passed through Marshall on the Texas &amp; Pacific Railroad. To feed them, the hotel served buffet-style meals on long tables in the ballroom, which could accommodate 300-400 people. They had to eat quickly as the train stopped for only 45 minutes. The hotel operated until 1968. It was remodeled (and saved from demolition) and opened as a restaurant.Ginocchio HouseLancaster also designed Ginocchio's home, which he built in 1886. It is three-stories tall and a fine example of Queen Anne architecture, featuring an irregular, steeply pitched roof (including pyramidal roofed cupola topped by a finial), and a porch with wood columns, spindlework and lace-like brackets. The interior features elaborate woodwork created by craftsmen from the nearby railroad shops. The house remains a private residence today.

The Ginocchio Historic District preserves a number of historic structures including the former Ginocchio Hotel, the Texas & Pacific Depot, and historic homes. It is named after Italian native and successful businessman Charles A. Ginocchio, who built the hotel and one of the houses for himself and his family. The depot, which still operates as a train station for Amtrak, is also home to the Texas & Pacific Railway Museum. The Ginocchio restaurant occupies the first floor of the hotel. Both buildings and the homes in the district are notable landmarks in their own right, particularly in terms of architecture. To reach the depot, visitors must walk through an underground tunnel that extends from the hotel. Next to the depot are two pieces of Union Pacific railroading stock—a caboose and locomotive. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.   

Ginocchio Historic District

First Baptist Church Marshall Pastor Dr. William T. Tardy was invited to offer remarks at a 1911 banquet for donors to the new Southern Methodist University. With this invitation, he urged those in attendance to start a college in Marshall, as he felt East Texas needed Christ-centered education. The Methodist leaders obliged, promising support for a college if Dr. Tardy led the project.

Marshall College sealed its charter as a two-year junior college in 1912. The first $2,000 for the school was given by P.G. Whaley and M. Turney, and an additional $80,000 was raised from Christians all across the city. 100 acres of the Van Zandt family plantation was riskily purchased as well, allowing the construction of Marshall Hall to be completed in 1916.&nbsp; This main building for the early campus contained classrooms, office space, a library, gym, and laboratories.&nbsp; The first freshman class of Marshall College registered the following year.&nbsp; 300 students were enrolled in the next academic year.

New dorms encircled the campus by the 1920s, and 43 acres were purchased from the St. Joseph Boys Industrial Orphanage in 1935. This purchase led to the conversion of the orphanage into men’s housing for the school. After the conclusion of WWII, Marshall College saw a boom in enrollment and building around campus. Upon receiving authorization to offer bachelor’s degrees, the institution changed its name to East Texas Baptist University in 1944. In 1984, East Texas Baptist University replaced the former name.

East Texas Baptist University is a rather small school at 1613 enrollment for fall of 2018 but continues to exercise its mission statement by bringing Christ-centered education to its students and ministering to the community. The institution now offers 43 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs, including nursing, ministry, and education, and keeps everything focused on Dr. Tardy’s original mission to provide Christ-centered education.

Completed in 1916 with donations totaling $80,000, Marshall Hall remains the centerpiece of East Texas Baptist University. the University was established as the College of Marshall in 1912 by Dr. William T. Tardy. Although he knew that starting a new school would be difficult, Tardy felt East Texas needed a college that offered a Christ-centered education. The school started as a two-year college on the property of a former plantation, and Marshall Hall became the first buildings on the new campus when it was completed in 1916. In 1944, the institution received authorization to offer bachelor’s degrees and changed its name to East Texas Baptist College. The school became East Texas Baptist University in 1984. 

Highlights of Marshall Texas Driving Tour

Starr Family Home (Maplecroft)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information