McGilbert House
Why it's listed
This one-story frame house at 1902 Old Mill Road in Lufkin was built in the 1880s as housing for workers at the Angelina County Lumber Mill in the company town of Keltys. It has lap siding, a gabled composition roof, a shed porch supported by wood posts, four-over-four double-hung windows, and a rectangular plan. A garage sits at the rear and a chain link fence encloses the lot. It remains on its original site and is still used as a residence, with its condition recorded as fair. Local historian Lita Mayberry described houses in this part of Keltys as "B houses," smaller than the Type A houses. They were generally painted white, had five or six rooms and small porches, and sat on smaller yards with board fences. Some had single garages and utility connections. The house was listed for its architecture at the local level, as an unusually early surviving example of company housing in Texas.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it an unusually early surviving example of company housing in Texas. It is a good example of worker housing tied to the Angelina County Lumber Mill and the company town of Keltys. Significance is in architecture at the local level, and the reviewer recommended acceptance under Criterion C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88002793, listed December 22, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1902 Old Mill Rd., Lufkin |
|---|---|
| County | Angelina County |
| Listed | December 22, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002793 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Vernacular Victorian |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present condition listed as fair; present use is residence. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 31.35897, -94.74798 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88002793.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14711032
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.