{"nrhp_refnum":"99001139","name":"Lawrence, Stephen Decatur, Farmstead","other_names":["Opal Lawrence Historical Park"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"701 E. Kearney St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mesquite","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.770556339500075,"lon":-96.58905405491899,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-09-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A farmstead of about 13.7 acres at 701 East Kearney Street in Mesquite, Dallas County, Texas, now the Opal Lawrence Historical Park. It has two farmhouses (c. 1874 and 1882/1886) and many outbuildings, including barns, wells, a cistern and a fence system.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the farmstead is a rare survivor of Mesquite's cotton-farming past on the blackland prairie, reflecting rural life from the 1870s to the early 20th century (Criterion A, Agriculture). It is also significant for its unusual cross-plan main house with a belvedere tower and for the intact layout of house, yard and outbuildings (Criterion C, Architecture).","narrative":"Established in 1874 on blackland prairie east of Dallas, this farmstead in Mesquite preserves about 13.7 acres of a once much larger Lawrence family holding. Stephen Decatur Lawrence received roughly 304 acres from his father in 1873, and the family's cotton farming grew after the railroad arrived in 1873. The complex includes a c. 1874 one-and-a-half-story dwelling and a larger frame house begun in 1882 and expanded in 1886 into a cross plan with a one-story belvedere. Local craftsmen, the Florrer family, are credited with building the main house and the large barn. Surrounding them are a horse barn, a smaller barn with smokehouse and root cellar, wells, a cistern, sheds and barbed-wire fencing. A cedar-lined entry alley and surviving garden plants add to the setting. The property is valued for showing how a pioneer farm family worked and lived, and how its buildings suited the North Texas climate. It now operates as a museum.","period_of_significance":"c. 1874 - 1949","architect_builder":"Florrer, Charley (builder)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Single-Pen; Vernacular Modified T-Plan","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now used as a museum within a public park; the siding on the two houses was restored in 1997 by removing asbestos siding, and the roofs were recently replaced with wood shakes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.414391-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/9716/40971631/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/99001139.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001139/9c667e7302-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001139/9c667e7302-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Michael Barera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mesquite_July_2019_13_(Stephen_Decatur_Lawrence_Farmstead).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Barera</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:Mesquite_July_2019_13_(Stephen_Decatur_Lawrence_Farmstead).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971631","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2344631"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/lawrence-stephen-decatur-farmstead-99001139/"}