{"nrhp_refnum":"84000168","name":"Strickland-Sawyer House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"500 Oldham St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waxahachie","county":"Ellis County","state":"TX","lat":32.38738450100004,"lon":-96.84183179299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half-story frame Queen Anne/Eastlake house at 500 Oldham Street in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas, begun in 1888 and enlarged by a major front addition in 1897 built by C.W. Thrash.","why_significant":"The house is an exceptionally exuberant example of Queen Anne/Eastlake design in a city known for Victorian architecture. It was also the home for about 15 years of J. Frank Strickland, a founder of the Texas Power and Light Company. His later homes were altered beyond recognition or demolished, so this house is the strongest surviving link to him.","narrative":"Rising from a large corner lot at 500 Oldham Street in Waxahachie, this two-and-a-half-story frame house is an exuberant example of Queen Anne and Eastlake design. Its octagonal three-story tower with a bellcast spire, undulating bay windows, fishscale shingles and two-tiered curved porch with paired Doric columns give it a nearly sculptural quality. Work began in 1888 on a modest frame cottage, and in 1897 contractor C.W. Thrash added the six-room front block that defines the house today. J. Frank Strickland, a merchant and later a founder of the Texas Power and Light Company, lived here until moving to Dallas in 1904. His other homes were altered beyond recognition or demolished, making this the strongest surviving tie to him. Druggist J.W. Sawyer and his family owned it from 1914 to 1945. Conversion to apartments caused minor damage, mostly corrected by restoration in the 1970s.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"1888 - unknown; 1897 - C.W. Thrash","architectural_style":"Queen Anne/Eastlake","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; restored in the 1970s after conversion to apartments, and in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:20.870037-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/9691/40969122/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84000168.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000168/1ad8974456-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000168/1ad8974456-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strickland-Sawyer_House.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:Strickland-Sawyer_House.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86002461","name":"Oldham Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/oldham-avenue-historic-district-86002461/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969122","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107321275"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/ellis-county/strickland-sawyer-house-84000168/"}