George T. Todd House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'll tell it to you. In the town of Marion County, there stands a house that has outlasted the man who built it, the century that shaped him, and just about every trend in architecture that came along to make it look old-fashioned. And it has not moved an inch.

Now, the man behind it was Captain George Todd. Born in 1839, died in 1913. Confederate veteran.

Former district attorney. Former state legislator. Senior member of the East Texas Bar.

That is a resume that commands attention in any courthouse, any parlor, any room in East Texas, and George Todd had clearly furnished more than a few of those rooms with his presence. In 1893, he built this home. Not a modest cabin, not a practical box of a house.

A late Victorian structure with a corner tower and a mansard roof. That tower alone tells you something about a man. You don't add a tower because you need the storage.

You add a tower because you have arrived, and you want the horizon to know it. He built it for his family, and that was a considerable family. His wife Marion, who had been a Miller before she married him.

Sons Van Dyke, A. Miller, Charles C., and William H. Daughters Eva C., Mary V., who would later become Mrs.

J. S. Lewis, and Lula D., who would later become Mrs.

L. E. Hough.

Seven children and a wife and a corner tower with a mansard roof. Captain Todd was not building a house. He was building a statement.

Now here is the part that lands quieter than a tower but hits just as hard. The descendants of George Todd still own that house. Still preserve it.

The man is gone since 1913, the century has turned more than once, and that Victorian corner tower is still standing in Marion County because his people kept it. Some legacies live in courthouses. Some live in law books.

This one lives in a mansard roof that somebody's family just keeps on taking care of.

What the marker says

Capt. George Todd (1839-1913) was a Confederate veteran, ex-district attorney, former state legislator, and senior member of East Texas Bar. He built this home in 1893 for his family: wife Marion (Miller); sons Van Dyke, A. Miller, Charles C., and William H.: and daughters Eva C., Mary V. (later Mrs. J. S. Lewis), and Lula D. (later Mrs. L. E. Hough). Architecture is late Victorian featuring a corner tower with mansard roof. Descendants still own and preserve the structure. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974