Blake-Beaty-Orton House
a.k.a. Orton Home
206 S. Main St., Jasper, TXThe Blake-Beaty-Orton House is a Victorian house built in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is an excellent example of the complex design of this period with contrasting shapes, textures, and solids, and voids and is notable for the daring portico design.
Claims have been made that the house was constructed as early as the 1860s but all records to substantiate such a claim were in the County Courthouse which burned in the middle 1880's. From an architectural history view, the house should be dated in the 1880s and it appears in photographic records and writing after T. J. Beaty had acquired the property in 1888. This would be consistent with similar Victorian house designs in Texas.
The Beaty family owned the property on which the house stands as early as 1843. After being owned briefly by Stephen Williams, grandson and namesake of a veteran of both the American Revolution and the Texas Revolution, the property was acquired by the G.W. Blake family. Mr. Blake was by profession a carpenter and cabinetmaker. His daughter claimed to have been born in the house in 1861 and Blake was a "trained artisan" with manually driven machines such as planes and lathes to duplicate such elaborate turnings. However, no record supports the claim.
G. W. Blake died in 1882 and later his widow sold the property to J. T. Beaty, son of the earlier Beaty, a prominent citizen of Jasper who studied law and became an attorney. He was elected Senator from the 14th District to the Texas Legislature from 1901 to 1906. The size and grandeur of the home lends itself to Mr. Beaty's advanced station and it is more likely the house was constructed after he acquired the property. Marguerite Beaty Orton, daughter of J.T. Beaty and the occupant of the house until 1973, has given the property to the city of Jasper, which plans to restore the structure. It is one of the last remaining 19th-century houses and the most impressive in Jasper.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
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.