{"nrhp_refnum":"77001473","name":"Oliphant House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 mi. E of Milam off TX 21","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milam","county":"Sabine County","state":"TX","lat":31.467892929000072,"lon":-93.75649753399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, double log house built about 1820 in the Hide-Away-Harbor subdivision near Toledo Bend Reservoir, about 7 miles east of Milam, Sabine County, Texas, with two circa 1860 rear additions and a dog-trot barn nearby.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the earliest pre-Republic Anglo-American structures in Texas and the only surviving building of James Gaines's plantation and ferry-tavern enterprise at the Sabine River crossing of the El Camino Real. Gaines was an early Anglo settler, local official and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The house is also described as an exceptionally fine example of early Texas architecture.","narrative":"Built around 1820, this two-story double log house sits on a two-acre site near Toledo Bend Reservoir, east of Milam in Sabine County. Hewn cedar logs, mostly covered by weatherboarding, form the main structure, which has a one-story front gallery, exterior chimneys and two rear additions from about 1860. A dog-trot barn stands to the northeast. The house was built by James Gaines, one of the earliest Anglo settlers in Texas, who arrived in 1812, ran a plantation and ferry-tavern at the Sabine River crossing of the El Camino Real, served as an alcalde, and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. The ferry settlement was flooded by the reservoir in the 1960s, leaving this house as the only survivor. Later residents included the Oliphant family, and Francis Oliphant's chalk writing, mentioning a steamboat departure, remains in the upper hall. The property was described as vacant, with restoration planned.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"James Gaines (James Taylor Gaines)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as vacant and altered; no restoration work had been done at the time, though restoration was planned on a two-acre site.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.195624-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/9732/40973295/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001473.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001473/27a5a953c0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001473/27a5a953c0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OliphintHouse1_(1_of_1).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OliphintHouse1_(1_of_1).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973295","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaines%E2%80%93Oliphint_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18150552"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/sabine-county/oliphant-house-77001473/"}