Nacogdoches: Downtown National Historic District

Historic storefronts on a red brick street

Nacogdoches downtown national historic district (Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches/Flickr)

Town square featuring unpaved streets, storefronts, a gazebo, and many horse-drawn carts

Main Street facing west, 1882. (East Texas Research Center, R. W. Steen Library, SFASU)

Town square featuring unpaved streets, storefronts, and many horse-drawn carts. Once store has large painted sign across windows saying Cubanola Cigar, 5 cents

Main Street facing east, 1899. The original old stone fort is visible upper left. (East Texas Research Center, R. W. Steen Library, SFASU)

Portrait of Diedrich Rulfs

Diedrich Rulfs (East Texas Research Center, R. W. Steen Library, SFASU)

Two men conducting a survey of the town square in 1916

Surveying the square, 1916. (East Texas Research Center, R. W. Steen Library, SFASU)

Bronze statue of Diedrich Rulfs, Architect-Builder-Contractor, shown seated with a board on his knees and eyeing something with his hand outstretched and holding a pencil

Rulfs statue downtown. (Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches/Flickr)

Nacogdoches owes much of its built environment to the design of one man: Diedrich Rulfs. Rulfs, who was born, educated and married in Germany, immigrated to Texas in 1879. Over the next 40 years, he designed dozens of private and commercial structures across East Texas – many of them here in Nacogdoches. He used a variety of architectural styles, significantly influencing the aesthetic of Nacogdoches as it transitioned from frontier town to enterprising city around the turn of the 20th century.

Many of the homes, churches, and commercial buildings Rulfs designed are still standing and viewable on a downtown architectural walking tour developed by the city.

Downtown National Historic District 

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