French Home Trading Post

The French Home Trading Post, in Beaumont, Texas, was built in 1845 by John Jay French, a merchant and tanner who came from New York to Texas in the 1830s. His house served as a store, and early Beaumont settlers came to "French Town" to trade their produce for store goods. Recently, the Beaumont Junior League bought the home and deeded it to the Beaumont Heritage Society. The Society, with Architect Raiford Stripling, restored the trading post to its original condition.

French was a trader in any commodity that made money -- skins, agriculture, or land. Before he moved to Texas, he was a member of the firm of Coe and French, Tanners, in Oxford, Connecticut. He became inspired by the talk he heard of land values in Texas and came to Texas in about 1832. He had purchased goods in the East to establish a store but lost much of it in a shipwreck. For a while, he peddled what remained of his supplies. In 1835 he applied for a grant of land on Flores Creek from the Mexican government. Shortly after he received the grant, he realized that nearby Beaumont was a more profitable area, and he bought 300 acres three and one-half miles northwest of the town. He brought his wife and children to Texas from New York and probably lived at Taylor's Bayou for several years.

He bought the land for his house for $400 in promissory notes from Joel Lewis, and in 1845 he built a home that consisted of four downstairs rooms and one large upstairs room. He built a tannery and five vats and also had mills for corn and grain. In addition, the French kept a trading post which is thought to have occupied the upper story of his house. Eventually, French sold his business to his sons and became involved in land speculation. By 1877 he had bought more than 8000 acres in various East Texas counties, as well as a building on The Strand in Galveston. Later owners of the French Home and Trading Post have included members of the French family, a Mrs. Lawrence, the M. A. Merchants, and the Beaumont Heritage Society. This last group has done extensive restoration work returning the building to its original condition. Careful craftsmanship is evident in the detail of the house although it is quite simple and more reminiscent of New England than vernacular Texas buildings of the time.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970.