Stephen F. Austin State University

210 E. Pilar (Ingraham Building)

210 E. Pilar Photographs

210 E. Pilar 2010 Survey Information

Click here for the 2010 survey form.

210 E. Pilar 2007 National Register Information

The Ingraham Building at 210 East Pilar Street represents an intact local example of late nineteenth-century commercial architecture with simplified Victorian details. It is the only building within the district to retain its doubleheight gallery (and only four other buildings have a balcony off the second floor), a feature not uncommon in Nacogdoches and commercial districts across the state during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Constructed of brick, this two-story building is characterized by its simple composition and prominent double-height gallery. The primary facade faces onto Pilar Street and the plaza principal, and is divided into two bays. The ground floor is asymmetrically arranged to accommodate separate doorway to upper floor. Storefront consists of double-door entry flanked by plate glass window and surmounted by a three part transom. The second floor, which housed Ingraham's professional offices, displays a symmetrical placement of fenestration. These consist of three evenly spaced wood sash windows and one doorway of similar design, all surmounted by segmented arch fill and brickwork. Architectural details were minimal, limited to corbelled brickwork at the cornice line, and comer brackets and turned wood posts on the upper gallery, and a carved sum or flower motif on the transom woodwork. The restoration project, completed in 1997, replaced the original storefront that had been removed in 1922. Other restored features include: original windows; rough-hewn interior roof supports; square nails in the ceiling; and original doors on second floor interior.

The Ingraham Building was commissioned by George Francis Ingraham, a local attorney, judge and civic leader. Ingraham was born in New York in 1842, and was raised in Alazan (seven miles west of Nacogdoches). His family had settled in Nacogdoches by 1860. After his return from service as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, he married Martha Thompson Cooper (in 1866), and had nine children. Ingraham became attorney in 1873, and also served as the Nacogdoches county treasurer, a county judge, and a Texas State Representative. He also served as the executive vice president of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank (Founded 1908) from 1910 until its merger with Stone Fort National
Bank in 1919.

In 1896, he acquired the title to the lot on Pilar, which Sanborn maps indicate was between the court house and Bullock House. The two-story brick building was completed in 1897, and the second floor served as Ingraham's law office. The first floor was leased to retail businesses, including G.N. Bright, who ran a grocery and feed store between 1918 and 1937. Upon Ingraham's death in 1920, ownership of the building was divided between his nine children. F.J. Tucker, one of Ingraham's grandsons, purchased the property from his family members. He, like his grandfather was an attorney and civic leader, and used second floor of the building as an office for his law practice. Sally Tucker Thompson inherited the building upon his death, and leased it to number of retail establishments. In 1996, Charles R. Bright (the son of G.N. Bright) purchased the building and restored it to its original appearance, including the replacement of the storefront that had been removed in 1922.

Believed to be the oldest intact building on the south side of the public square, the Ingraham building is a Registered Texas Historic Landmark (1998), and a Nacogdoches Historic Landmark.

210 E. Pilar 1986 Survey Information