{"nrhp_refnum":"93000112","name":"Harrison, Gerard A., House","other_names":["Site No. 278"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 E. Caney","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wharton","county":"Wharton County","state":"TX","lat":29.31081564400006,"lon":-96.09570881299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-03-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1 1/2-story frame house at 209 East Caney Street in Wharton, Texas, about two blocks from the courthouse square. It was probably built in the last quarter of the 19th century and bought by Gerard A. Harrison in 1907.","why_significant":"The house is the last remaining property associated with Gerard A. Harrison, a prominent Wharton County landowner and farmer whose agricultural business contributed to the town's growth. It is also considered the finest example of a sophisticated pyramid-roof house reflecting Lower South architecture in Wharton.","narrative":"This 1 1/2-story frame house at 209 East Caney Street in Wharton, Texas, is topped by a massive pyramidal roof and rests on brick piers. An inset porch with Doric columns and full-height brick piers wraps the south and east sides, and a pair of gable-front dormers joined by a shed-roofed dormer marks the front. It was probably built in the late 19th century, possibly for Dr. J. Phillips, a local doctor with a drug store on the courthouse square. Gerard A. Harrison bought it in 1907 and lived there with his second wife until his death in 1924. Harrison managed his father's farming and ranching holdings in Wharton County, expanding them from about 3,000 to over 7,000 acres, and took part in local institutions such as the county fair association and a bank board. The house is the last property tied to him and is regarded as the finest local example of a Lower South pyramid-roof house, with echoes of Louisiana plantation architecture.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1907-1924; ca. 1875","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"OTHER: Pyramid-roof House","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling and described as retaining a high degree of integrity; it remains in the Harrison family.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.190881-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/9707/40970740/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/93000112.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000112/a3a6299ca0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000112/a3a6299ca0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_Harrison_House,_Wharton,_TX.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</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:Gerard_Harrison_House,_Wharton,_TX.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970740","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107318098"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/wharton-county/harrison-gerard-a-house-93000112/"}