{"nrhp_refnum":"82004528","name":"Thomason, John W., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1207 Ave. J","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntsville","county":"Walker County","state":"TX","lat":30.722745274000033,"lon":-95.54850658699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story frame Queen Anne/Shingle Style house at 1207 Avenue J in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, built in three phases (about 1890, 1905 and 1911) for Dr. and Mrs. John W. Thomason, with a medical office and other outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a rare, well-preserved late Victorian example in Huntsville, combining Queen Anne elements with Shingle Style detail and fine interior craftsmanship. It is also the birthplace and home of Texas author and illustrator John William Thomason, Jr., and was built by a prominent local physician. The reviewer's comments cite Criterion C.","narrative":"Standing on a hill two blocks east of the Walker County Courthouse in Huntsville, this frame house grew in stages with its family. A one-story home was built around 1890 for Dr. John W. Thomason and his wife. A second floor and attic were added in 1905, and a sleeping porch and extended verandas followed in 1911. The result is a unified Queen Anne and Shingle Style design with broad gables, a polygonal corner tower, mixed clapboard and shingle siding, a double staircase and carved mantels. A separate medical office built in the late 1880s survives nearby and was still used for its original purpose. The house is recognized as one of the few substantial late Victorian homes left in the area, and it stayed in the Thomason family for nearly a century. It was also the birthplace of John William Thomason, Jr., a Texas author and illustrator who wrote about Texas and the Marines.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne/Shingle Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good, needing only minor repairs and painting; the owner was restoring it at the time of the nomination. The property was listed as occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.72039-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/9738/40973896/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/82004528.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973896","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107321341"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/walker-county/thomason-john-w-house-82004528/"}