Locust Grove
Off TX 134, Jonesville, TXLocust Grove represents a good example of a Greek Revival plantation house of mid-nineteenth century Texas and stands as one of the oldest houses in the small community of Jonesville. Built for Alpheus Wright, the house once served as the center of a large plantation and has remained within the possession of Wright's descendants since its completion between 1847 and 1849.
Alpheus Wright moved from Trenton, Kentucky to Harrison County in 1847. That same year, Redding S. Fridgen, a wealthy landowner in the area, married Wright's eldest daughter and sold 640 acres to Wright. Construction soon began on the two-story frame house, and by 1849 the structure was completed. When Wright's youngest daughter, Edith Florence, was born in the house in 1849, the building was called Florence Dale in honor of this child. However, the name did not stick, and eventually, the house became known as Locust Grove, although the name's origin is not known.
The Wright plantation prospered throughout the 1850s, but the Civil War and Wright's illness in the mid-1860s contributed to the decline of the plantation. Wright's only son, Robert, returned from his assignment with the Confederate army to visit his father and run the plantation. When Wright died in 1869, his widow, Lucy Taylor Wright, became the owner, and Robert managed the farm. After their deaths in 1888, the land was subdivided among the family members and the house became the property of Robert's widow, Eudora Ferry Wright. After her death in 1902, the house has been owned by various family members and is still owned by a direct descendant of Alpheus Wright.
The community of Jonesville was founded in 1847 in the eastern section of Harrison County about four miles west of the Louisiana border. The township was originally called Border, but the name was soon changed to Jonesville. When the railroad arrived in 1868, most of the townspeople moved one and one-half miles south near the railroad tracks. As a result, Locust Grove stands as an excellent reminder of the old townsite and represents one of the oldest and most impressive residences in the area.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.