D.1 - HDP-2019-0628 - 1603 E. 7th Street — original pdf

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D.1 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION JANUARY 27, 2020 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS HDP-2019-0628 1603 E. 7TH STREET PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1917 house. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan building; front-gabled jerkinhead roof; wood siding; double-hung wood-sash windows; half-width porch; door with transom and sidelights. RESEARCH 1603 E. 7th Street was built around 1917 by Dennis and Annie Hunter at a cost of $250. The family then occupied the house for five decades. The Hunters had lived in a previous dwelling on the property for at least five years before constructing the existing house. During this time, they were paying a “vendor’s lien” to the property owner/seller, which they paid off in 1916 to own the property outright. Dennis H. Hunter was born in 1882 in Martindale, Texas, and completed school through the 8th grade. Hunter operated a restaurant on E. 6th Street, which is not named in city directories. He also worked various other jobs: as a saloon bookkeeper (1910), drugstore porter (1914), assistant steward at the Home Social & Benevolence Association (1918), and dry goods store porter (1930). Census records and city directories from the early 1940s show that the Hunters rented rooms in their home, including to James H. Means and another professor at nearby Tillotson Institute. Dennis Hunter died in 1943 in Austin. Annie Storey Hunter was born in 1879 in Texas. She attended three years of college, later working as a dressmaker out of her home. She married Dennis Hunter prior to 1897, and the couple had three sons. Annie Hunter lived in the house until her death in 1970. STAFF COMMENTS The East Austin Historic Resources Survey (2016) identified the property as a potential historic landmark. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain a high degree of integrity. 3) Properties must meet two historic designation criteria for landmark designation (City of Austin Land Development Code, Section 25-2-352). The property appears to demonstrate significance according to one criterion. a. Architecture. The house embodies the distinguishing characteristics of the Craftsman style and appears to be significant under this criterion. b. Historical association. Dennis and Annie Hunter built the house and lived in the house for roughly fifty years. The Hunters owned a restaurant on E. 6th Street, and were prosperous enough to buy land and construct a house when  D.1 - 2 African Americans faced substantial financial and legal barriers. However, significant historical associations were not discovered during research. c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The house does not appear to possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. Further research would confirm this. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of the existing building, then relocation over demolition; but release the demolition permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of photographs of all elevations, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history, for archiving at the Austin History Center.  LOCATION MAP D.1 - 3  PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos D.1 - 4 Primary (north) façade of 1603 E. 7th Street. East elevation and north façade.  Occupancy History D.1 - 5 Vacant William Haswell (colored) Waiter, Scholz Garten Dennis Hunter (colored) Waiter, no employer listed Dennis Hunter (colored) Restaurant (1605 E. 6th Street) Samuel and Rosa Cleveland (colored), renters Laborer, Patton Auto Co. Dennie Hunter (colored) Porter, Graham Drug Co., restaurant (1605 E. 6th Street) Dennis and Annie Hunter (colored) Assistant steward, Home Social & Benevolence Association Completed by Historic Preservation Office staff, November 2019 Staff note: City directories have occupancy records stretching back to 1887. This history covers occupancy from just before the current house was constructed around 1920. 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1927 1929 1932 1935 1937 Dennis and Anna Hunter (colored), owners No occupation listed 1603½: Bessie Lawrence (colored), renter Laundress, no employer listed D. H. and Anna Hunter (colored), owners Restaurant (1103 E. 6th Street) Lee A. and Beulah J. Murphy, renters No occupation listed D. H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed D. H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed D. H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed D. H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed Theodore C. Calhoun, renter Teacher, Anderson High School  D.1 - 6 Annie S. Hunter, owner Supervisor, King’s Daughters Home for the Aged No occupation listed Mrs. Celia Brown, owner Maid, no employer listed Mrs. Annie S. Hunter, renter No occupation listed John B. Jackson, renter Teacher, Anderson High School D. H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed J. H. Means, renter Associate professor, Tillotson College Dennis H. and Annie Hunter, owners No occupation listed Mrs. Annie S. Hunter, owner (widow of D. H.) No occupation listed 1939 1941 1944 1947 1949 Mrs. Annie S. Hunter, owner (widow of D. H.) 1952 1955 1959 1963 1963 1968 1973 1977 1981 Mrs. Annie S. Hunter, owner (widow of D. H.) No occupation listed Roger W. and Georgia N. Thomas, Jr., owners Teacher, no employer listed Annie S. Hunter, renter (widow of Dennis) No occupation listed Annie S. Hunter, renter (widow of Dennis) No occupation listed Annie S. Hunter, renter (widow of Dennis) No occupation listed Mrs. Annie S. Hunter, owner No occupation listed James H. Pittman, renter Laborer, no employer listed G. R. Thomas, renter No occupation listed G. R. Thomas, renter Teacher, Jobs Corps Center (San Marcos) G. R. Thomas, renter Teacher, Jobs Corps Center (San Marcos) 1985 1992 Background Research D.1 - 7 Travis County Deed Records, Deed Record 287, page 446. Building permit notice, Austin Statesman, 9/6/1917. Building Permits D.1 - 8 Water tap permit, 7/2/1931.