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Hardeman House,
built in 1892, is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places and is situated on Old Washington Square, a "center"
in Nacogdoches much older than the town square. The Caddo Indians
established the area as a ceremonial site between 1250 and 1450
A.D. One of their mortuary mounds remains today on Mound St.
Another mound located on the property of the Hardeman House
was excavated in the 1930's.
In 1845, Haden Edwards, Charles S. Taylor and J.R. Arnold promised
2.5 acres to the city to erect a building for the Nacogdoches
University which was chartered at the time. Built in 1858, the
modified Grecian structure was the first nonsectarian university
established during the Republic of Texas, and the only original
building chartered by the Republic still standing.
Robert Lee Hardeman, a descendent of an early pioneering family
of Texas, built his one-story home at the corner of Church and
Arnold Streets in 1892. in 1912, Hardeman commissioned prominent
architect Dietrich Rulfs to enlarge the house adding the second
story, a wrap-around gallery, new siding and interior. Mr. Rulfs
also designed and built 15 other turn-of-the-century homes and
churches located in the neighborhood.
Lee and Ida Hardeman had three children; Homer, Gladys and Curtis.
Gladys never married and lived in the home until just prior
to her death in 1980. |
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