{"nrhp_refnum":"73001974","name":"Blount, Capt. Thomas William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2.5 mi. W of San Augustine on TX 21","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Augustine","county":"San Augustine County","state":"TX","lat":31.532468359000063,"lon":-94.16781731099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame plantation house about two and a half miles west of San Augustine, Texas, built about 1854 by Jonas Hail and purchased in 1865 by Captain Thomas William Blount.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent, unaltered example of vernacular Greek Revival plantation residences built in East Texas in the mid-nineteenth century. The site also has earlier history, including an 1825 cotton gin, and is tied to Captain Blount, a Confederate officer and Texas legislator.","narrative":"Set in a rural area about two and a half miles west of San Augustine, this plantation house was built around 1854 by Jonas Hail and bought in 1865 by Captain Thomas William Blount. The two-story frame main block sits on brick piers and has a central hall plan, a pedimented entrance portico with simple square columns, and very plain detailing under a box cornice. The nomination describes it as an excellent, unaltered example of vernacular Greek Revival plantation architecture in mid-nineteenth-century East Texas. The site's history reaches back further: John A. Williams settled it in 1822 and built a cotton gin there in 1825, one of the first in Texas. Blount, son of a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, served as a Confederate officer, was held prisoner at Johnson's Island, and was elected to the Eleventh Texas Legislature in 1866. He farmed the plantation until 1910, and it has stayed in the family. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1962.","period_of_significance":"c. 1854 (19th century)","architect_builder":"Jonas Hail (builder)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as well preserved and unaltered, in fair condition, occupied as a private residence; the property has remained in the Blount family.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.150442-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/9733/40973306/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/73001974.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973306","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107321802"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/san-augustine-county/blount-capt-thomas-william-house-73001974/"}