Printed with permission of David A. Lewis, Lincoln Parish, LA GenWeb
Thank you, David!
Home of Thomas Cunningham Standifer
This colonial home was built by Colonel Thomas Cunningham Standifer, a Civil War hero, who had a general merchandise store at Old Trenton. He purchased the entire block #6 from Robert E. Russ for $450.00 cash on January 3, 1884 and built the house the same year Ruston, LA was incorporated and one year after the East-West railroad was built. The present front, including the columns, were added by Mr. T. L. James in 1926.
The house is built with square nails, and the trim is white pine from Michigan. The downstairs ceilings are 13 ft. high. There was originally a lightered (pitch pine) picket fence around the block.
The home remained in Col. Standifer's family until the death of Mrs. J. D. Barksdale (Olive Standifer) in 1913, when it was purchased by Mr. G. A. Adams who already had bought the northern half of the lot from the Standifer heirs.
Mr. T. L. James, then living in Dubach, purchased the home in 1921, moving here with his wife and six children in the summer of 1921. The property now belongs to the T. L. James & Company, inc. Mr. T. L. James died in 1944 and Mrs. James died in 1964. The house is now maintained for corporate use.
The home is locally significant in that it is one of the finest examples of the Colonial Revival style in the city of Ruston. It is the only one which features a colossal pedimented portico. This marks it as the apogee of the Colonial Revival style in the city. The house has a handsome distinctive neo-Georgian articulation which links it with the high style tendencies of the day in large cities.
From: A pamphlet entitled "Centennial Historical Tour", Ruston, LA, 1983.
Check out the
old letter from Thomas C. Standifer, son of Young T. Standifer
Back to Civil War Page
Back to Thomas
Standifer's Civil War Tribute
