D.5.0 - 503 E. Annie Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION MARCH 22, 2021 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS PR-2020-192534 503 E. ANNIE STREET D.5 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1931 house. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, side-gabled frame house with a central, front-gabled entry bay; paired 1:1 fenestration on the main elevation; single and paired 1:1 fenestration elsewhere; standing seam metal roof. RESEARCH The house appears to have been built in 1931, based upon city directory records and a sewer service permit issued for this address. The first owner and occupant was Elmer D. Wiginton, who may have moved in here as early as 1931 with a wife named Patricia (who only shows up in the 1932-33 city directory), or with his wife Lillian who appears in all later city directories; they married in April of 1932. Elmer D. Wiginton was an accountant for the City Auditing Department; he and Lillian lived here until 1940, when the moved to a house on Bonnieview in Fairview Park. The next owners and occupants, who lived here from around 1948 until at least 1974, were Tom B. and Rena Woodland. Tom B. Woodland was a retired farmer from Concho County, Texas; while living in Austin, he worked as a watchman. Rena Woodland was a saleslady in various hardware stores, including Woodland Hardware on South Congress Avenue, operated by Webb and David C. Woodland, Jr., possible relatives. STAFF COMMENTS The house is listed as contributing to the pending Travis Heights National Register Historic District. Staff has evaluated this house for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the house, while clearly contributing to the pending historic district, does not meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The house is a ca. 1931 Craftsman cottage, typical of many in the neighborhood, and characterizing a large number of middle class residences in Travis Heights. This house does not reflect the architectural distinction necessary for qualification as a historic landmark under this criterion. b. Historical association. The house was first owned by an accountant for the city, and then by a retired farmer and his wife, who worked as a saleslady in a hardware store. 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.  STAFF RECOMMENDATION D.5 - 2 Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive re-use, then relocation over demolition, 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. The house does not meet the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark.  LOCATION MAP D.5 - 3  D.5 - 4 503 E. Annie Street ca. 1931 OCCUPANCY HISTORY 503 E. Annie Street City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office November, 2020 1959 Tom B. and Rena Woodland, owners Tom: Rena: No occupation listed Clerk, Woodland Paint Center (Webb D. and David C. Woodland, Jr., proprietors), 1706 S. Congress Avenue. Tom B. and Rena Woodland, owners Tom: Rena: No occupation listed Saleswoman, Woodland Hardware (Webb D. and David Woodland, Jr., proprietors), 1708 S. Congress Avenue. Tom B. and Rena Woodland, owners Tom: Rena: Night watchman Woodward Manufacturing Corporation, South end of S. Congress Avenue. Saleswoman, Miles Hardware (Cloister C. Miles, proprietor), 505- 07 E. 6th Street. Tom B. and Rena Woodland, owners Tom: Rena: Watchman State School for the Deaf Clerk, Woodland Hardware (David C. Woodland, proprietor), 1708 S. Congress Avenue. Tom B. and Rena Woodland, owners Tom: Rena: No occupation listed Clerk, Gertrude Ketchum Florist, 1706 S. Congress Avenue. 1957 1955 1952 1949  1947 1944 1941 1939 1937 1935 1932-33 1930-31 D.5 - 5 Vacant NOTE: Tom B. and Rena Woodland are not listed in the directory. John W. and Evelyn Parker, renters U.S. Army Lee H. and Jessie Griffith, owners Bookkeeper, City Water Light & Power Department NOTE: Elmer D. and Lillian C. Wiginton are listed at 211 Bonnieview; he was an office manager for the City Water Light and Power Department. Elmer D. and Lillian C. Wiginton, owners Accountant, City Auditor Elmer D. and Lillian C. Wiginton, owners Accountant, City Auditor Elmer D. and Lillian C. Wiginton, owners Accountant, City Tax Assessor & Collector Elmer D. and Patricia Wiginton, owners Elmer: Patricia: Accountant, City of Austin Stenographer, State Comptroller’s Department The address is not listed in the directory. NOTE: Elmer D. Wiginton is listed at 906 Riverside Drive. He was an accountant for the City Purchasing Department. Patricia Wiginton is not listed in the directory. NOTE: There is a sewer service permit issued to Albert Moore for this address dating from August, 1931. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Elmer D. and Patricia Wiginton (ca. 1931 - ca. 1940) Elmer D. Wiginton appears in the 1930 U.S. Census as the single brother of Onie M. Dixon, who owned her home Worth $4,500 at 906 Riverside Drive. Onie was a 30-year old Texas-born widow with a 9-year old daughter. She was a secretary for a construction company. Elmer D. Wiginton was 26, had been born in Texas, and was a secretary for the City Finance Department. The 1940 U.S. Census shows Elmer D. and Lillian Wiginton as the owners of the house at 211 Bonnie View; that house was worth $4,500. Elmer D. Wiginton was 38, had been born in Texas, and was a manager at the City Water and Light Department. Lillian Wiginton was 35, had been born in Texas, and had no occupation listed. Lillian’s sister, Juanita Patterson, a 24-year old Texas born divorcee who had lived in Cooper, Texas in 1935 is also listed in the household. Juanita Patterson was a keypunch operator for an insurance firm. His 1940 World War II draft registration card shows that Elmer Davis Wiginton was living at 211 Bonnie View in Austin. He was born in Aquilla, Texas in 1901 and was employed by the City of Austin Water and Light Office. He was 6’-3” tall, weighed 185 pounds and had a ruddy complexion with brown hair and gray eyes. Elmer Wiginton died in Travis County in 1991.  D.5 - 6 Tom B. and Rena E. Woodland (ca. 1948 – at least through ca. 1964) His 1918 World War I draft registration card shows that Tom Blackwell Woodland was living on a rural route out of Lockhart, Texas. He was born in 1884 and was a farmer. He was of medium height with a slender build, and had brown hair and blue eyes. The 1930 U.S. Census shows Tom B. and Rena E. Woodland as the renters of a farm on Eden Road in Concho County, Texas. Tom B. Woodland was 45, had been born in Texas, and was a farmer. Rena E. Woodland was 28, had been born in Texas and had no occupation listed. They had two children: son Carrol W., 8, who had been born in Colorado; and daughter Myrle, 4, who had been born in Texas. Tom B. and Rena Woodland appear in the 1940 U.S. Census for Concho County, Texas, where Tom was a farmer on a farm he rented. He was 56, and had been born in Texas. Rena was 36, had been born in Texas and had no occupation shown. They had 4 children: son Carroll W., 18, who was born in Colorado and is listed as absent from the household; daughter Merle, 15, who had been born in Texas, daughter Tommy, 6, who had been born in Texas, and son, Don S., 3, who had been born in Texas. Tom Blackwell Woodland was living at this address at the time of his death in October, 1964. He was a retired farmer who had been born in Texas in 1883 and was married. However, his obituary in the Austin newspapers do not list a surviving spouse. Rena Eugenia Grant Woodland was living at 501 E. Oltorf Street at the time of her death in February, 1979. She was born in Lockhart, Texas in 1903 and was a widowed salesperson at a hardware store. Obituary of Tom B. Woodland Austin Statesman, October 26, 1964