805 S. SYCAMORE - BUILT 1880 (LOOK RIGHT)

This spectacular frame home was built for George Edward Dilley, an Illinois-born business magnate and social leader. The Dilley family ran railroad brass and iron foundries in Palestine, San Antonio, Arkansas and Kansas, supplying the development of Jay Gould’s railroad empire. The home was enlarged in 1895 to plans by Theodore Miller. It features a billiard room in the basement, a finished attic and elaborate mahogany trimmings said to be assembled by craftsmen from the Pullman Company. This house had one of the first private telephones in Palestine. Note the roof cresting, imported stained glass windows and iron fences with granite gate posts around three-quarters of the block. It is illustrated in Webb & Alexander’s Texas Homes of the 19th Century. It is still in the Dilley family.