SPECIAL SUBJECTS: Texas Courthouses Past and Present Demolished or Restored Vintage and contemporary photos and postcards
Texas Centennial Index by Sarah Reveley During the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration, the state built memorial museums, restored historical structures,�improved parks, erected statues of�important Texans, and installed over 1,000 historical markers. This ongoing project will examine the extant Centennial projects and include the stories behind them.
Texas Preservation
Zedler's Mills Photos Courtesy Sarah Reveley, Justin Parson, Barclay Gibson and Chia-Wei Wang
Sebastopol House by Mike Cox A limecrete Structure in Seguin National Register of Historic Places Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
History On The Brink Of Extinction by Dana Goolsby Biological minor heirs to the property, as well as their guardian would like the property to be obtained by the Historical Commission in order to salvage their family history, as well as some of East Texas' oldest history.
Unveiling in San Antonio Bronze Goes Green without Verdigris Bexar County Triumphs Over Vandals by Terry Jeanson Saving Sallie's Home by Bob Bowman The proud old house looked as if it might fall down. Turkey vultures perched on its roof like sinister messengers of doom.
Five Buildings of San Antonio The Star, the Pig, the Dealership, the Icehouse and the Chinese Grocery Photos by Mel Brown, Sarah Reveley and Jacinto Guevara
Courthouse Savior by Terry Jeanson Persistence and Tenacity Preserves Blanco Landmark JoNell Haas and The 1885 former Blanco County courthouse
The Gus Cranz Mansion, Schulenburg, Texas, ca 1874 by John Troesser. Photos courtesy Roy Saffel & the Cranz Family Fine old-world craftsmanship
Little Tee Pee(s) on the Prairie by Johnny Stucco Photos courtesty Ken Rudine & Blue Dolphin Investments LP "This is the biggest news in Wharton County in years. It's bigger than the night they burned the wooden sidewalks on the square and certainly bigger than the night they cut down the sycamore trees on the courthouse lawn. It might even be considered a tie with the time Sheriff Buckshot Lane burned the state highway bridge."
Perfect Worlds by Dwight Young Donna Reed and the Granada Theater in Plainview, Texas "... I�m glad they�re memorializing Donna Reed by restoring an old movie house. Escape is essential now and then, but it�s hard to find it in a shoebox-sized theater with a name like Asphalt Gardens Shopping Plaza Multiplex Cinema 17. We need to save lots of Palaces and Rialtos and Majestics � and Granadas...."
Sagging Symbols by Dwight Young "In the midst of the vast, windswept West Texas landscape, the courthouse was the architectural paperweight that kept the town from blowing away. ... [It] offered tangible evidence that our town was here to stay and that the residents were a civilized lot who knew what a public building ought to look like."
Buildings inside Buildings by John Troesser 4-21-04 Little Church in the Warehouse (Fort Worth) The Siddon-Barnes Log Cabin, Chico, Texas History in the Hotel Lobby, Austin, Texas
The Editor's Home by Bob Bowman The Red River County Historical Society has embarked on a $1 million fundraising effort that could lead to the restoration of the early Greek revival home as an educational museum of early Texas architecture and the remarkable life of Colonel DeMorse. more Photo courtesy Robin Jett
Granbury Opera House by Joan Upton Hall "Inside, period chandeliers and wall sconces light the auditorium. Exposed stone walls, original doors, molding, white-painted balcony rails, and authentic needlepoint seats evoke the 1886 atmosphere of the theatre�s birth..." "Its preservation �just in the nick of time� was perhaps what united the town."
Austin's Moonlight Towers by Johnny Stucco Officially recognized as state archeological landmarks in 1970 Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 "... In the entire United States, only Austin has surviving examples of this type of lighting system that was once popular in many U.S. cities during the late 1800s....." more
Hill County Courthouse Text & photos by Sam Fenstermacher The Hill County Courthouse was destroyed by fire on the night of January 1, 1993. The destruction was nearly complete. All that remained standing was the four limestone walls... Today, the Hill County Courthouse is again perfect in nearly every detail. more
Saving Sallie's Home by Bob Bowman The proud old house looked as if it might fall down. Turkey vultures perched on its roof like sinister messengers of doom.
Kyle: Growing with Thought by Veranda Mansard With all that's going wrong in the world of development - it's nice to know that something is going right.
Ghost Signs in Texas by John Troesser Faded reminders of (usually) defunct products painted on the fronts and sides of buildings in small towns and large cities all across the country...
Outhouses by Bob Bowman The old-fashioned outhouse, which served thousands of rural East Texans before indoor bathrooms became affordable, has again become fashionable, but not as a working privy. It is showing up in historical displays, as art and in advertisements.
The Bathhouse that Wouldn't Die Reader's Comment : I enjoyed your piece on the Luling Bathhouse. I had no idea all that history was there. - Chandra Beal, author of "Splash Across Texas"
Restoring Two Old Reds by Bob Bowman"A couple of grand old ladies, both with identical nicknames, are getting facelifts on different ends of East Texas.........."
Hollywood Soot by Audrey A. Herbrich Photos by Boyd Photography, La Grange The fire in La Granger - "The north wind�unusually strong this March�carried the voices from those gathered below to me, and I could hear their whispers and gasps. And it wasn�t the ablaze Botts Title Company that trumped the conversation, or the equally ablaze China Inn Restaurant, Bertie�s Barbershop, or the income tax lawyer�s office. No, it was the Cozy Theater, slotted between Bertie�s on the left and the JC Penney catalog store on the right."
