DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Diedrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs, master architect of Nacogdoches. Now, some men leave their mark on a town in ways you can see from a mile off. Diedrich Rulfs left his mark on Nacogdoches in brick and stone and timber, and if you slow down long enough to look, that mark is still standing today.
Diedrich was born in 1848 in Stollham, in the German Province of Oldenburg. His father was a carpenter — so you might say the boy came by his eye for structure honestly. He married Johanne Emilie Büschen in 1873, and not long after that he became an apprentice in the building guild at Oldenburg.
He was already designing homes there, and he helped design the parish church at Stollham. The man was building a reputation, and he was just getting started. Then came the crossing.
After Johanne's father died, the whole family gathered themselves up — Diedrich, Johanne, their three sons, Johanne's mother, and her younger brother — and they boarded a steamship called the Nurnburg. They arrived at New Orleans in November of 1880. From there, a steamboat to Jefferson.
From Jefferson, a wagon to Nacogdoches, where Johanne's brother William Büschen had already put down roots. That is a long road to travel with a family in tow, and it ends in East Texas. Nacogdoches, as it turned out, was exactly the right place for a man with Diedrich Rulfs's ambitions.
He set to work, and the town would never quite look the same again. Here's what's remarkable about the man: he didn't leave the old country behind — he folded it right into the new one. Northern German architectural styles show up in his Nacogdoches work plain as day, if you know where to look.
The corner tower of the Roland Jones house, built in 1896, draws directly from the Ducal palace in Oldenburg. Christ Episcopal Church, completed in 1901, and Zion Hill Baptist Church, finished in 1914, both carry elements of the Atens Church in Germany — the very church where Diedrich and Johanne were married. He brought his whole world with him in his drafting hand.
And he was not a man who worked small. His commercial buildings dominated downtown Nacogdoches. The Opera House in 1889.
The Liberty Hotel in 1891. The Cotton Exchange in 1898. The Redland Hotel in 1906.
The Mayer-Schmidt building in 1908. One after another, the skyline of that town took shape under his vision. His domestic structures and churches lined Washington Square, Virginia Avenue, Main and North Streets.
Some of them are still standing — the Hardeman house from 1892, the Perkins house from 1900, the Hayter house from 1913, the Cason house from 1914, and the Blount house from 1923. That last one built just three years before his death. The man was still working.
His influences were as wide as his ambitions: Gothic, Greek Revival, Italian styles all woven together with that Northern German sensibility. Eclectic is the word the marker uses, and that feels exactly right for a carpenter's son from Stollham who crossed an ocean on the Nurnburg and ended up reshaping a Texas town. Diedrich Rulfs died in 1926 and is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches.
The buildings, though — the buildings are still keeping watch.
What the marker says
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 B��schen 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 B��schen 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.