Diedrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs
Master architect Diedrich Rulfs was born in 1848 in Stollham in the German Province of Oldenburg to Helene (Stindt) and Gerhard Rulfs; his father was a carpenter. After Diedrich married Johanne Emilie Böschen in 1873, he became an apprentice in the building guild at Oldenburg, designing several homes there and also helping design the parish church at Stollham. After Johanne’s father died, Diedrich, Johanne, their three sons, and Johanne’s mother and younger brother emigrated to the United States aboard the steamship Nurnburg, arriving at new orleans in November 1880. They proceeded by steamboat to Jefferson and by wagon to Nacogdoches, where Johanne’s brother William Böschen had already settled.
Northern German architectural styles exist in many of Rulfs’ works in Nacogdoches: the corner tower of the RolandJones house (1896) is taken from the Ducal palace in Oldenburg, and Christ Episcopal Church (1901) and Zion Hill Baptist Church (1914) include elements of the Atens (Germany) Church where Diedrich and Johanne married. Rulfs’ commercial buildings dominated the downtown area and include: Opera House (1889), Liberty Hotel (1891), Cotton Exchange (1898), Redland Hotel (1906) and Mayer-Schmidt building (1908). His domestic structures and churches lined Washington Square, Virginia Avenue, Main and North Streets; extant examples include the Hardeman (1892), Perkins (1900), Hayter (1913), Cason (1914) and Blount (1923) houses. Rulfs’ eclectic architectural influences included gothic, greek revival and italian styles. Rulfs died in 1926 and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.