{"nrhp_refnum":"88002768","name":"Rastus-Read House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1509 First St., South","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lufkin","county":"Angelina County","state":"TX","lat":31.320277322000038,"lon":-94.72750662099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-12-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story petrified wood rock cottage at 1509 First Street South in Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas, built about 1934-35 in the Craftsman tradition. The contractor was Jack Berry.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a very fine example of a rock cottage and stone masonry in the Craftsman tradition. Its significance is in architecture at the local level. The house was built with East Texas petrified rock gathered by the original owner, and its fireplace contains an entire petrified tree.","narrative":"Built around 1934-35 at 1509 First Street South in Lufkin, this one-story cottage is made of petrified wood rock laid in random courses. It has an irregular plan, a polychrome tile roof combining hip and gable forms, an exterior stone chimney on the west side, and a porch and porte cochere with arched openings. The windows are multipane wood double-hung sash, and a detached garage at the rear matches the house in construction. It was built for E. E. Rastus Read and his wife Erma, and first appears in the 1937 city directory on Old Diboll Highway. Read ran a tin shop, and the family collected petrified rock from farmers who had cleared their fields; the fireplace holds an entire petrified tree. The contractor, Jack Berry, was related to W. P. Berry, who built many homes in Lufkin's Mantooth area. The house was listed for its architecture, as a very fine local example of rock cottage and stone masonry work in the Craftsman tradition, and it remains in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Contractor Jack Berry","architectural_style":"Craftsman/Bungalow","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present condition is described as excellent, with few if any exterior alterations. It is still used as a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.099973-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/9679/40967924/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/88002768.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40967924","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001393"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/angelina-county/rastus-read-house-88002768/"}