D.7 - 1519 E. Cesar Chavez Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION MARCH 23, 2020 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS HDP-2020-0139 1519 E. CESAR CHAVEZ STREET D.7 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1904 commercial building with a ca. 1939 addition. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, flat-roofed painted brick commercial building with two sections, the eastern half being the older (ca. 1904) of the two, and characterized by a raised brick elongated tablet in the front wall. The western half of the building appears to date from around 1939, and differs from the eastern half in its lack of ornamentation. All original windows and doors on the building have been replaced with modern, aluminum- framed units. The window openings all have raised brick sills. Along the east elevation is a double row of 3 small, rectangular, fixed-sash windows forming a sort of clerestory; each window also has raised brick sills. RESEARCH The section of the building on the corner was built around 1904 as the grocery store of Ernst F.A. Martin, who immigrated from Germany and had previously had a neighborhood grocery on E. 4th Street. Around 1904, he moved his operations to this site, and built this brick store building along with an attached residence to the west. He stayed in business here until around 1911, when he sold the property to William C. Blundell. Blundell also operated a grocery store here and lived in the adjoining house with his family. Blundell stayed in business here until around 1939. He and his wife then moved to 38th and Speedway, and he became an assistant postmaster for the Texas House of Representatives. He sold the grocery business to Thomas and Mamie Beatty, who are believed to have been the ones to enlarge the store, reducing the size of the attached dwelling unit (although it may have been W.C. Blundell, as there is a water service permit to him dating from 1939). Thomas and Mamie Beatty are listed in the 1940 city directory as living on this site, but that is the last directory to indicate a residential use by the owners of the adjacent store. After a few short-term grocery owners after the Beatty Food Store, Benjamin Anderson’s grocery store here became a Red and White Grocery Store franchise around 1954, and remained in business here until around 1958. The building was then occupied by City Auto Parts, a retail auto parts store operated by Charlie C. Rogers and Thomas Landford at least through the end of the historic period in the early 1970s. The building was recently modernized for restaurant use. STAFF COMMENTS The building was recommended as contributing to a potential historic district by the East Austin Historic Resources Survey (2016). Staff has evaluated this house for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the building does not meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The building reflects its history as a neighborhood grocery store from the turn of the 20th century with its simple and utilitarian style and construction. The only historic ornamentation on the building is the elongated tablet across the façade of the earlier eastern section of the  D.7 - 2 building. This building appears more substantial than many of the other neighborhood grocery buildings that once graced many corners in East Austin, and retains its form, but does not rise to the level of a historic landmark for its architectural significance. b. Historical association. The building was a neighborhood grocery store with a series of long-term owners who lived on-site from the time of its construction in 1904 through the 1930s, and even after enlargement to more of a small supermarket around 1939, retained its identity through the mid-1950s, when the use changed from grocery store to auto parts. Neighborhood groceries such as this one used to be prevalent in older Austin neighborhoods; looking at city directories from the early 20th century reveals neighborhood stores on many corners of E. 1st Street (now E. Cesar Chavez Street). This building has an addition that enlarged its commercial space at the expense of the on-site dwelling unit, and also reflects the transition from neighborhood store to something more approaching a neighborhood supermarket. Despite the fact that few stores of this vintage remain in Austin, there does not appear to be sufficient significant historical associations to warrant designation of this building as a historic landmark. c. Archaeology. The building was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The building was a neighborhood grocery store, and its corner location may reflect 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, but insufficient to warrant individual designation as a historic landmark. 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, but release the 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. Although recommended as contributing to a potential historic district, the building has been modified, and does not otherwise squarely meet the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark.  LOCATION MAP D.7 - 3  D.7 - 4 1519 E. Cesar Chavez Street ca. 1904 with a ca. 1939 addition to the right ]  D.7 - 5 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 1519 E. Cesar Chavez Street City Auto Supply Charlie C. Rogers and Thomas W. Landford, proprietors NOTE: Benjamin and Bertha Anderson are not listed in the directory. Anderson Red and White Grocery Benjamin Anderson, proprietor City Auto Supply City Auto Supply City Auto Supply City Auto Supply Anderson Grocery Benjamin Anderson, proprietor City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office March, 2020 1973 1968 1965 1962 1959 1955 1952 1949 1947 1944-45 1941 1940 Bentley Grocery and Market Wilbur A. and Volney Bentley, proprietors NOTE: Benjamin and Bertha Anderson are not listed in the directory. Nabors Grocery A. Owen and Alice M. Nabors, proprietors NOTE: Thomas and Mamie Beatty operated a grocery at 1011-13 East Avenue. There is also a listing for a Beatty Food Store operated by Harvey Beatty at 1916 Manor Road. Beatty Food Store No. 1 Groceries Thomas B. and Mamie Beatty, proprietors NOTE: This is the only location of Beatty Food Store listed in the directory Beatty Food Store Groceries Thomas B. and Mamie B. Beatty, proprietors Beatty Food Store Thomas B. and Mamie B. Beatty, proprietors NOTE: Thomas B. and Mamie Beatty just to the west of this building at 1509 E. 1st Street. They later moved to Scenic Drive.  1939 1937 1935 1932-33 1930-31 1929 1927 1924 D.7 - 6 NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed at 101-B E. 38th Street; neither had an occupation shown. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. NOTE: Thomas B. Beatty is listed as a salesman for John Bremond Company, a wholesale grocery business. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. NOTE: Directories of the 1920s also show Minnie Blundell and W.C. Blundell, Jr., the children of W.C. and Martha Blundell, at this address. Minnie Blundell became a teacher at the Texas School for the Deaf; W.C. Blundell, Jr. was a salesman for Swift and Company, a meat packing plant. He transferred with the company to several other Texas cities as well as the company’s headquarters in Chicago before returning to Austin as superintendent of the operations here. He retired from Swift in the late 1950s. D.7 - 7 1922 1920 1918 1916 1914 1912-13 1910-11 1909-10 1906-07 1905 1903-04 W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Martha Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Lizzie Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. and Lizzie M. Blundell are listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. Blundell is listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. Blundell is listed as living at the same address as the store. W.C. Blundell, groceries and feed NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: William C. Blundell is listed as living at the same address as the store. NOTE: Ernst F.A. Martin is listed at 1503 E. 1st Street; he had no occupation shown. Ernest F.A. Martin, groceries and feed NOTE: Ernest F. A. Martin is listed as living at the same address as the store. NOTE: William C. Blundell is listed as a grocer at 1101 E. 2nd Street; he lived at 1105 E. 2nd Street. Ernst F.A. Martin, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: Ernst F.A. Martin is listed as living at the same address as the store. Ernest F.A. Martin, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: Ernest F.A. Martin is listed as living at the same address as the store. Ernst F.A. Martin, groceries NOTE: The address is listed as 1509 E. 1st Street. NOTE: Ernst F.A. Martin is listed as living at 1503 E. 1st Street. Unknown  D.7 - 8 NOTE: Ernst F.A. Martin is listed as a grocer with his store and residence at 1201 E. 4th Street. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Ernst F.A. Martin (ca. 1904 – ca. 1911) Ernst Martin appears in the 1880 U.S. Census as a boarder in a house near W. 6th Street in Austin. He was born in 1852 in Saxony, and was a musician. The 1910 U.S. Census shows Ernst F.A. and Rosalie Martin at 1507½ E. 1st Street (which corresponds to the dwelling adjacent to the store and known as 1509 E. 1st Street in city directories). Ernst F.A. Martin was a 58-year old German-born keeper of a grocery store. Rosalie Martin, 49, was born in Germany and had no occupation listed. Both had immigrated to the United States in the 1870s. They had two children, both born in Texas: son Walter, 28, was a book-keeper for the railroad; daughter Emily, 22, had no occupation listed. Ernst F.A. Martin died in November, 1914. He was living at 1503 E. 1st Street at the time of his death. Obituary of Ernst F.A. Martin Austin Daily Statesman, November 16, 1914 W.C. Blundell (ca. 1911 – ca. 1939) The 1910 U.S. Census shows William and Lizzie Blundell at 1105 E. 2nd Street, which city directories confirm is where they lived prior to moving to this location. They were both listed as merchants in the directory. They had 4 children: Clyde (W.C., Jr.), Minnie, Bessie, and Oscar. Julia Blundell, W.C.’s widowed mother, also lived in the house, as did W.C.’s brother, Eddie, 22, a laborer in a laundry. The 1920 U.S. Census shows William C. and Martha E. Blundell as the owners of the property at 1509 E. 1st Street. William C. Blundell was a 39-year old Texas-born grocery merchant. Martha E. Blundell, 38, had been born in Texas and had no occupation listed. They had 4 children: William C., 18; Bessie L., 16; Minnie L., 15; and Julia A., 8. All of the children had been born in Texas. William C. Blundell is listed in the 1930 U.S. Census as the owner of the house at 1509 E. 1st Street, which was worth $5,000. He was 49, had been born in Texas, and was the owner of a  grocery store. His wife, Martha E. Blundell, 48, had been born in Texas to a Mississippi-born father and a Georgia-born mother, and had no occupation listed. They had two daughters living with them: Minnie, 25, was a public school teacher, and Julia, 18, had no occupation listed. Both girls were born in Texas. D.7 - 9 News story on the death of W.C. Blundell Austin Statesman, June 25, 1952  D.7 - 10 Water service permit to William C. Blundell for this address (1939)  D.7 - 11 The 1935 Sanborn map shows the attached dwelling and store. The store on the corner had a wraparound structural awning, which does not appear on later maps or currently. The dwelling (“D”) is set back from the façade of the store. D.7 - 12 The 1962 Sanborn map shows the changes to this building complex since 1935. The portion labeled “D” for dwelling, is much smaller, and the eastern section of the dwelling shown on the 1935 map above, has been transformed into a store use (“S”), and is now flush with the front wall of the older building on the corner. The structural canopy running around the corner of the store building on the 1935 map no longer appears.