Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark

Lutcher Stark's name is stitched into Longhorn history. A strength-coaching history says he managed the University of Texas football team in 1910 and in 1913 gave warm-up blankets embroidered with Longhorns, after which the team was officially called that. It says he came back from training under Alan Calvert in Philadelphia 40 pounds lighter and twice as strong, a lasting believer in weight training. His gifts, the page says, included uniforms for the Longhorn Band, rare books for the Stark Library and the 17th bell in the Main Building belfry.

What the plaque says

Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark On December 8, 1887, Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark was born in Orange to William H. and Miriam H. (Lutcher) Stark. His maternal grandfather, Henry J. Lutcher, had amassed wealth as a co-founder of the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company and as a landowner with gas and oil interests. Under William Stark, the company continued to prosper, and when Lutcher Stark graduated from the University of Texas in 1910, he joined his family in their lumber empire. Although known to live modestly, he was ranked Texas' wealthiest man by the 1920s. He succeeded in a variety of business ventures, including banking, real estate, manufacturing, insurance and the petroleum industry. Governor W.P. Hobby appointed Lutcher Stark to the Texas Board of Regents in 1919. He served for 24 years, including 12 as chair. He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by Baylor University and Southwestern University (Memphis, TN) in the 1930s, and was recognized in the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1958. Lutcher Stark collected art, rare books and other historical items, many of which he donated to Orange's Stark Museum of Art and to the University of Texas. He established a foundation and made significant contributions to educational and charitable groups throughout his life. He also served on various boards and as an officer for numerous local businesses, and he sponsored many local programs, including early city sports teams and a boys band. His wealth and generosity continue to enhance the community through his foundation and its ongoing philanthropic work. (2004)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stark Museum of Art — steps away
  A white-marble museum in Orange built by the Stark Foundation and opened in 1978, holding Western art, American Indian art, Audubon's Birds of America and Steuben glass, free to enter.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 1.0 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 19 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 21 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• The City of Orange — steps away
• Homesite of Dr. Edgar William Brown — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Orange — steps away
• First United Methodist Church of Orange — steps away