DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Taylor-Cooper House in Williamson County. Now, every story has to start somewhere, and this one starts in 1848, when interim county commissioners sat down and made a decision: Georgetown, Texas, would be the seat of Williamson County. That ink was barely dry before the Taylor family packed up and moved in.
And the Taylors, they didn't come to watch. Josiah Taylor opened one of the earliest businesses in that new city — a store right on the courthouse square. You want to talk about planting your flag, that's it.
Josiah's son, Emzy Taylor, born in 1841, grew up working that store. Learning the trade, learning the town. Then around 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army.
The war came and went, as wars do, and Emzy Taylor came back to Georgetown. Settled in with his wife, Margaret Corinna Henderson Taylor, born 1842. And in May of 1869, Emzy Taylor did what a man with a growing family and roots in the ground tends to do — he purchased eight empty lots right here at this location.
Eight lots. He wasn't thinkin' small. What went up first was a single-story, central-passage house, built in the National Folk style with ashlar limestone.
That central hall ran straight through the middle, dividing the rooms on either side — a practical design, a solid design, the kind that says this family intends to stay. And stay they did. Around 1880, they added an upstairs, because families have a way of needing more room.
But the real transformation? That came in 1889. Emzy Taylor and his son-in-law, R.T.
Cooper — born 1862 — enlisted the Belford Lumber Company, a firm that had already built many of the historic houses in Georgetown. Construction began that year and brought with it something altogether different from that original limestone modesty. Greek Revival elements started arriving: a portico wrapping around the south and east sides of the house, columns, a formal dining room — the kind of additions that announce a family's place in a community.
And by 1900, those later additions brought a white wood exterior, characteristic of the Greek Revival style, standing in clear contrast to the limestone underneath. Old and new, side by side, each layer telling a different chapter. Emzy Taylor died before those updates were complete, leaving his son-in-law R.T.
Cooper — who lived all the way to 1950 — to primarily oversee the work going forward. Margaret Corinna Taylor lived on until 1922, long enough to see the house reach something close to its final form. What you're lookin' at in the Taylor-Cooper House isn't just one family's ambition laid out in stone and wood.
It's Georgetown itself — from a brand-new county seat with a store on the square, to a city with history built right into the walls. The Taylors arrived near the beginning, and they built something that's still standing. That's about as Georgetown as it gets.
What the marker says
Founded in 1848, interim county commissioners chose Georgetown, Texas, as the seat of Williamson County. Soon after, the Taylor family moved to Georgetown. Josiah Taylor opened one of the earliest businesses in the new city, a store on the courthouse square. Taylor's son, Emzy Taylor (1841-1895), worked at his father's store until he enlisted in the Confederate army around 1861. After the war, Emzy Taylor settled in Georgetown with his wife, Margaret Corinna (Henderson) Taylor (1842-1922). In May 1869, Taylor purchased eight empty lots at this location to construct a new home for his growing family. Built with ashlar limestone, the original construction was a single-story, central-passage house. Common in the National Folk style, this design contained a central hall that divided the rooms in the house. An upstairs addition was added around 1880. Taylor and his son-in-law, R.T. Cooper (1862-1950), enlisted the services of the Belford Lumber Company, which built many of the historic houses in Georgetown. After Taylor's death, Cooper primarily oversaw these updates. Construction began in 1889 and added many elements of the Greek Revival style. The construction company added a portico that wrapped around the south and east sides of the house, columns, a formal dining room and many other elements typical of the Greek Revival style. While different from the limestone of the original construction, the 1900 additions to the house have a white wood exterior, characteristic of Greek Revival. The Taylor-Cooper House not only represents the success of one of the earliest Georgetown families, but also the city's early economic development. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2018