Jump to content

M. A. Benton House

Coordinates: 32°43′31″N 97°20′24″W / 32.72528°N 97.34000°W / 32.72528; -97.34000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

M. A. Benton House
Benton House in 2022
M. A. Benton House is located in Texas
M. A. Benton House
M. A. Benton House
M. A. Benton House is located in the United States
M. A. Benton House
M. A. Benton House
Location1730 6th Ave.,
Fort Worth, Texas
Coordinates32°43′31″N 97°20′24″W / 32.72528°N 97.34000°W / 32.72528; -97.34000
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1898 (1898)
Architectural styleLate Victorian
Part ofFairmount-Southside Historic District (ID90000490[1])
NRHP reference No.78002982[1]
RTHL No.374
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 22, 1978
Designated CPApril 5, 1990
Designated RTHL1971

The M. A. Benton House is an historic landmark in Fort Worth, Texas (USA), located on a four-lot corner at 1730 Sixth Avenue. This Victorian-style house, still owned by Benton descendants, was built in 1898 and is one of the oldest homes in Fort Worth. The descendants have preserved the cottage's architecture features, including the one-and-a-half-story structure and the fence that has surrounded the cottage since it was first built. As a family home, it is not open to the public. The Benton House is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural qualities. In 1971, the Benton House was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

History

[edit]

The Benton House was owned by a tobacco seller, Meredith A. Benton, and his wife, Ella Belle. M. A. Benton's father, a Kansas City builder, erected the house for the couple in 1898. It was built originally with a barn and hayloft and a two-room servants’ house, but the servants’ quarters were redesigned into a garage building in 1937. Ella Belle Benton lived alone for most of the time because her husband was an active civic worker. She helped start the Rose Gardens, now part of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, as well as a public kindergarten program.

Features

[edit]

The Benton House is a Victorian gingerbread home. Made of cypress, it contains six rooms, a central hall, and tiled fireplaces. Some special features of this house are an asymmetrical floorplan, fine spindle work, cross gables over a hipped roof, and a cutaway window.

[2]

It is marked by a Texas Historical Marker.[3]

It is subject of a painting by "Texas's Grandma Moses", Sweetie Ladd.[4]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: M. A. Benton House. NARA. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Nieke, William (April 22, 2009). "Benton House". Texas Historical Marker. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011.
  4. ^ Cissy Stewart Lale; Sweetie Ladd (creator) (1999). "Benton House.". Sweetie Ladd's Historic Fort Worth. TCU Press. ISBN 9780875651965. Retrieved April 23, 2009.

Roark, Carol E. Fort Worth's Legendary Landmarks. Illus. Byrd Williams. Fort Worth: Texas Christian UP, 1995. Print.

[edit]

Media related to M. A. Benton House at Wikimedia Commons