San Augustine Residential Historic District
Why it's listed
This residential district in San Augustine, Texas, curves around the east and south sides of the courthouse square and covers roughly 260 acres. Its street grid follows the 1833 town plat, and the oldest resource is the city cemetery from about 1835. Several late 1830s Greek Revival houses survive, including the Ezekiel Cullen, Matthew Cartwright and Stephen W. Blount houses, all tied to builder Augustus Phelps. Little was built between 1865 and 1901, but the arrival of the railroad in 1901 brought a building boom. Most of the 407 resources are modest and mid-sized houses from about 1901 to 1960, in Classical Revival, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman and later Ranch styles, with garages, barns, churches and a Depression-era stone bridge headwall. Fallow farmland at the south end reflects the area's agricultural past. The district is significant for showing, across 122 years, how a Texas Republic town grew into a varied residential neighborhood.
Significance in brief: The district shows San Augustine's growth from a pioneer settlement of the Texas Republic era into a middle and upper income neighborhood after the railroad arrived in 1901. It combines a grid street pattern with informal rural-style parcels. Its 122-year span includes rare early Republic-era houses alongside early 20th century revival and Craftsman homes and post-war Ranch houses.
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 06000508, listed October 16, 2006. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly surrounding TX 147, TX 3230 and TX 2213, San Augustine |
|---|---|
| County | San Augustine County |
| Listed | October 16, 2006 |
| Reference number | 06000508 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Augustus Phelps (builder/architect of the Cullen, Cartwright and Blount houses); Sidney A. Sweet; local builders James C. Anderson and John Patrick (Pat) Smith |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival; Tudor Revival; Classical Revival; Bungalow/Craftsman; Queen Anne; Greek Revival; Spanish Colonial Revival; Dutch Colonial Revival; Minimal Traditional; Ranch; Gothic Revival |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most properties are in good to fair condition; 243 of 407 resources are contributing. Some parcels are vacant or fallow agricultural land. |
| Acreage | 260 |
| Coordinates | 31.52491, -94.10935 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 06000508.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q109999824
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.