D.18.0 - 3807 Avenue B — original pdf

Backup

HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION NOVEMBER 16, 2020 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS HDP-2020-0439 3807 AVENUE B D.18 - 1 PROPOSAL Relocate a ca. 1929 house to Round Rock, Texas. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, front-gabled frame bungalow with a partial-width, front-gabled independent porch on ornamental metal supports; single and paired 1:1 fenestration. The house has an addition to the rear that was constructed in 1966 and is virtually indistinguishable from the original house except for its windows facing the back yard. RESEARCH The house appears to have been built around 1929; the first owners and occupants were Austin R. and Maude Busch, who lived here until around 1950, although it is not certain that Austin R. Busch lived in this house with his wife. The Busch family lived in Cedar Bayou, Texas in Chambers County between Houston and Beaumont in the 1920s. Austin R. Busch worked in the oil industry as a gauger, and his 1951 obituary in the Baytown, Texas newspaper, relates that he was a lifelong resident of the area. Maude Busch was from Austin, and appears to have lived in this house with her daughter, Catherine. Austin R. Busch is not listed with Maude Busch in either the 1930 nor the 1940 U.S. census reports, but Maude Busch is listed as married rather than divorced. The 1941 Austin city directory shows Maude Busch as the widow of Austin R. Busch, but he did not die until 1951. The 1947 and 1949 Austin city directories only show Maude R. Busch. There is a real estate transfer from Austin R. Busch to Maude Busch in 1946, but it is unclear whether he transferred this property to her at that time, although her single listing in the Austin city directories thereafter appear to confirm a separation and perhaps divorce at that time. Maude Busch lived here until around 1950, when she apparently moved to Baytown. She retained ownership of this house at least through the mid-1960s, as her name appears on the building permit for a rear addition in 1966. Austin R. Busch died in Chambers County, Texas in 1951 and was buried in Baytown; Maude Busch died in 1969 and is also buried in Baytown but they do not appear to have been buried together. STAFF COMMENTS The house is not within the limits of either the Hyde Park National Register Historic District nor the Hyde Park Local Historic District. Staff has evaluated this house for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the house does not meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The house is a typical bungalow, reflecting a common style with no architectural distinction. b. Historical association. The house was the home of a woman whose apparently absentee husband worked in the oil refineries of Cedar Bayou, east of Houston. Maude Busch does not have an occupation listed in the city directories for her time in this house; there do not appear to be significant historical associations. c. Archaeology. The house 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 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. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. D.18 - 2 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Release the permit for relocation of this house to Round Rock 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. The house does not meet the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark.  LOCATION MAP D.18 - 3  D.18 - 4 3807 Avenue B ca. 1929 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 3807 Avenue B Driver, Woodward Manufacturing Company Waitress, Confederate Women’s Home William L. and Glen R. Wolff, renters William: Glen: City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office October, 2020 1959 1957 1955 1952 John and Hattie M. Fowler, renters No occupation listed Vacant Robert C. Jordan, renter Hospital attendant NOTE: Maude Busch is not listed in the directory. Maude Busch, owner No occupation listed 1949  1947 Maude Busch, owner No occupation listed D.18 - 5 Austin R. and Maude Busch, owners Gauger Austin R. and Maude Busch, owners Oil gauger Maude B. Busch, owner Widow, Austin R. Busch No occupation listed Austin R. and Maud J. Busch, owners Gauger Austin R. and Maude B. Busch, owners Gauger Austin R. and Maude Busch, owners Gauger Also listed is Catherine A. Busch, a student at the University of Texas. Austin R. and Maude Busch, owners Gauger Also listed is Catherine A. Busch, a student at the University of Texas. 1944-45 1941 1939 1937 1935 1932-33 1930-31 1929 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Austin R. and Maude J. Busch (ca. 1929 – ca. 1950) The 1920 U.S. Census shows Austin R. and Maud J. Busch as the renters of a house on the Cedar Bayou and Mont Belvieu Road in Chambers County, Texas. Austin R. Busch was 25, had been born in Texas, and was a farmer on his own farm. Maud J. Busch was 23, had been born in Texas and had no occupation listed. They had a daughter, Catherine, 1, who had been born in Texas. Maude Busch appears in the 1930 U.S. Census as the owner of this house, which was worth $2,400. Maude Busch was 34, had been born in Texas to a father born in the Irish Free State and a Texas-born mother, and had no occupation listed. She is listed as married, but Austin R. Busch is not listed with her at this address. She had two daughters: Catherine, 11; and Frances, 8, both of whom had been born in Texas. The 1940 U.S. Census shows Maude Busch as the owner of this house, which was worth $2,500. Maude Busch was 44, had been born in Texas, and had no occupation listed. She is listed as married, but Austin R. Busch is not listed in the census report with her. She had two daughters listed with her: Catherine, 21, a stenographer for an oil refining company and Frances, 18. Both girls had been born in Texas. Austin Robert Busch was living in Cedar Bayou, Chambers County, Texas at the time of his death in 1951. He was born in 1894 in Cedar Bayou, Texas, and was a pumper at an oil refinery. His The address is not listed in the directory. NOTE: Austin R. and Maude Busch are not listed in the directory. death resulted from an accident when he was hit on the back of his head from pipe hanging from a passing truck. He is buried in the Cedar Bayou Masonic Cemetery. D.18 - 6 D.18 - 7 Story on the mysterious death of Austin R. Busch Baytown (Texas) Sun, April 20, 1951 Maude Jessie Busch was born in Austin in 1896 and died in Baytown, Texas in 1969. She is buried in Baytown. D.18 - 8 Obituary of Maude Busch Austin Statesman, May 9, 1969 Water service permit to A.R. Busch for this house (1929) D.18 - 9 Sewer service permit for this address noting A.R. Busch as the owner (1929) Building permit to Maude Busch for the construction of a frame addition and frame accessory building (1966) D.18 - 10 The house appears on the 1935 Sanborn map. The 1962 Sanborn map shows the same configuration as the 1935 map above.