{"nrhp_refnum":"76002081","name":"Giddings-Wilkin House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"805 Crocket St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brenham","county":"Washington County","state":"TX","lat":30.173756436000076,"lon":-96.39167381999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Greek Revival frame house at 805 Crocket Street in Brenham, Washington County, Texas, built in 1843 by Jabez Demig Giddings. It is now a house museum.","why_significant":"It is an unusual Greek Revival residence with a water reservoir built into its roof cornice, one of few known examples in Texas. It is also the oldest remaining residence in Brenham. Its builder, J. D. Giddings, was a teacher, lawyer and court clerk active in early county development.","narrative":"Built in 1843 at 805 Crocket Street in Brenham, this two-story Greek Revival house is the oldest remaining residence in the city. Jabez Demig Giddings, a lawyer, early teacher at Independence Academy and Washington County court clerk, built it for his bride, Ann Travers. The frame house was later enlarged to two full stories with a rear wing, and a full-width porch was added. Its most unusual feature is a wide cornice lined with zinc that works as a roof cistern, able to hold about 9,275 gallons and used for cooling, fire protection and possibly a water supply. The Giddings family lived there until 1871, and the John Bush Wilkin family then stayed for 74 years. After Urban Renewal acquired the property in 1971, the Heritage Society of Washington County bought and restored it as a museum furnished with family belongings from the 1840-1870 period.","period_of_significance":"1843-1945","architect_builder":"Jabez Demig Giddings (builder)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored by the Heritage Society of Washington County and used as a house museum; the upper floor is used for storage. Condition is marked excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.664559-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/9739/40973914/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/76002081.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002081/7e88536684-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002081/7e88536684-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giddings-WilkinHouse3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giddings-WilkinHouse3.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"90000445","name":"East Brenham","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/east-brenham-90000445/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973914","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000563"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/washington-county/giddings-wilkin-house-76002081/"}