Maplecroft Changed With the Starr Family

Maplecroft is not a house frozen at one date. It began as a two-story, center-passage Greek Revival home at 407 West Travis Street, then gained additions and renovations as the Starr family kept living in it.

The story reached Marshall in 1870, when Dr. James Harper Starr and his son Frank moved their land and banking agency from Nacogdoches. Dr. Starr bought 52 acres that included his own residence and the future Maplecroft site. Frank and Clara Starr built Maplecroft on land his father deeded to him, then raised six daughters in Marshall. Their second-youngest daughter, Ruth Starr Blake, later returned to Maplecroft and remodeled it around an extensive glass and china collection.

The house remained in the family until 1976, when it was deeded to the state for public benefit; the historic site opened in 1986. Several buildings now hold period furnishings, clothing, and antiques that trace four generations. That is Maplecroft's character: Greek Revival bones, later rooms, and one family's belongings all sharing the same address.