Marsh F. Smith House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, in Georgetown, Williamson County, there stands a house that has seen a good stretch of Texas history, and the story behind it is worth pulling over for. It's called the Marsh F.

Smith House, and it starts in 1908, when the Belford Lumber Co. built it. Built it for a man named Marsh Fawn Smith and his wife Jessie, she being a Cooper before she married him. Marsh Fawn Smith, born in 1875, was the operator of a local cottonseed oil mill.

Not a flashy title, maybe, but the kind of work that keeps a town running. Now, the house itself, well, it's what they call a Foursquare. Solid.

Deliberate. And if you look at it with a careful eye, you'll notice something a little more refined than plain utility. Those broad eaves reaching out like they're shading everything beneath them.

A wraparound porch held up by square columns. The marker says those elements reflect the influence of Prairie School architecture, and once you hear that, you can't un-see it. This house was built to mean something.

And so was its owner. Marsh F. Smith went on to serve as mayor of Georgetown, starting in 1926 and holding that office all the way through 1946.

The marker calls those important years in the economic development of the city, and it doesn't say that lightly. Twenty years as mayor is not a footnote. Jessie lived on until 1963, and Marsh until 1961.

The house they came home to in 1908 is still standing, still carrying that Prairie School porch and those broad eaves, still telling anyone who looks closely enough that some things in Georgetown were built to last.

What the marker says

This Foursquare house was built in 1908 by the Belford Lumber Co. for Marsh Fawn Smith (1875-1961), operator of a local cottonseed oil mill, and his wife Jessie (Cooper) (1879-1963). Smith served as mayor of Georgetown from 1926 to 1946, important years in the economic development of the city. Elements of the Marsh F. Smith House, including the broad eaves and wraparound porch with square columns, reflect the influence of Prairie School architecture. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988