[4] The site portrays 150 years and four generations of one of the most influential political families in the periods of the Republic of Texas and early statehood.

[4] James Frank Starr commissioned the construction of the main attraction of the park, Maplecroft.

The 1871 Starr home is a two-story, frame, modified late Greek Revival structure with some Victorian styling.

Craftsmen, such as shipwrights, and building materials were shipped from New Orleans to Marshall.

[4] In 1985, the house and three acres encompassing seven historic buildings was left to the State of Texas upon the death of the last owner, Mrs. Clara Pope Willoughby.