A.2.0 - C14H-2021-00xx - 1304 Bob Harrison Street, Posey House - Zoning Change Review Sheet — original pdf

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ZONING CHANGE REVIEW SHEET HLC DATE: May 24, 2021 PC DATE: N/A CASE NUMBER: Pending APPLICANT: Historic Landmark Commission OWNERS: Erika and Patrick Brosnan HISTORIC NAME: Posey House WATERSHED: Boggy Creek ADDRESS OF PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE: 1304 Bob Harrison Street ZONING CHANGE: SF-3-NP to SF-3-H-NP COUNCIL DISTRICT: 1 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the proposed zoning change from family residence – neighborhood plan (SF-3-NP) to family residence – historic landmark – neighborhood plan (SF-3-H-NP) combining district zoning. QUALIFICATIONS FOR LANDMARK DESIGNATION: Architecture and historical associations HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION ACTION: N/A PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: N/A DEPARTMENT COMMENTS: The house was recommended as a contributing property in a potential historic district by the East Austin Historic Resources Survey (2016). CITY COUNCIL DATE: N/A ORDINANCE READINGS: N/A CASE MANAGER: Cara Bertron NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS: Austin Independent School District, Austin Lost and Found Pets, Austin Neighborhoods Council, Bike Austin, Del Valle Community Coalition, East Austin Conservancy, Friends of AustinNeighborhoods, Homeless Neighborhood Association, Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation, Neighbors United forProgress, Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods, Preservation Austin, SELTexas, Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group, Swede Hill Neighborhood Association BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: Architecture: The Posey House, built around 1924 by Samuel Posey, is significant as a modest example of the National Folk style. The one-story house is clad in board and batten wood siding and capped with a pyramidal roof with two pipe chimneys and exposed rafter tails. Features include non-original vinyl-sash windows and a non-original flush wood door, which are respectively proposed to be replaced with 2-over-2 double-hung clad-wood windows and a wood door that are in keeping with likely original elements. A partial-width entry porch has a shed roof covered in corrugated metal and supported by square columns. Historical Associations: The Posey House is significant for its association with Samuel Posey and his descendants, working-class African Americans who purchased and maintained a home for decades at a time when few financial, policy, and legal resources were available to Black families. Two generations of the Posey family lived in the house for more than 45 years, until at least 1969. Appraisal district records show that the Poseys sold the house in 1998, after 75 years of ORDINANCE NUMBER: N/A PHONE: 512-974-1446 ACTION: N/A  ownership. This longstanding association represents an example of a definable group of people in early- to mid-20th century Austin. Samuel and Clara Posey built their home at 1304 Bob Harrison Street between 1922 and 1924, replacing two small rental houses on the same lot. Samuel Smith Posey was born in 1860 in Texas, where his father worked as a field laborer. Samuel Posey also worked as a laborer for the Austin Gas Light Co. (1909), then later as a stacker for the Kuntz- Sternenberg Lumber Co. (1920s). He married Jennie Stamps in 1893, and the couple had at least six children. In 1900, the family was living with two lodgers in a house they owned at 502 E. 13th Street (redeveloped after 1965 into a Capitol parking garage). Jennie died in 1905. Samuel may have remarried a woman named Lizzie or Clara (or Sarah); Census records and city directories provide conflicting information. He moved into 1304 Bob Harrison by 1924. In 1940, he was living in the house with three lodgers and a child. Samuel Posey died in 1941 in Austin. Two of Samuel Posey’s grown children, Eva and Eddie, occupied the house from around 1947 until 1969, moving from the house where they had grown up on E. 13th Street. Eva (or Eve) Lee Posey was born in 1898 and Eddie Posey was born in 1905, and both lived in Austin their entire lives. Ms. Posey worked in private family homes as a cook (1920) and a servant (1930 and 1940). She lived with her father, then her brother Leon and his family, on E. 13th Street before moving to 1304 Bob Harrison to live with Eddie. Eva Posey died in 1968. Eddie Posey graduated from Huston-Tillotson College, later serving as vice president of the local alumni chapter. He shined shoes at the Capitol beginning when he was 10 years old, working through college to pay tuition, and continuing after he graduated. By 1950, he had been named “official shine boy.” That year, a newspaper profile of Mr. Posey headlined “College Grad Shines Shoes” inadvertently highlighted the limited opportunities available to even college- educated Blacks. Mr. Posey’s only other jobs had been one-year stints at the Avenue Hotel and as principal of a school in Lavaca County. East Austin historian Arlene Youngblood noted that service industry jobs such as shoe shining came with tips. Mr. Posey said that the Great Depression did not impact his income, and that he “made an honest living shining shoes—enough to take care of [his] sister and [himself] comfortably.” Still, a few years later, Mr. Posey attended People’s Business College, a business school for African Americans seeking to gain skills in shorthand, typing, and bookkeeping. Community leader E. Marie Gilbert established the college in 1947 to “open doors and [provide] stepping stones to what [students] want[ed].” Located at E. 12th and Navasota streets, the college operated until 1961 as a more inclusive counterpart to contemporary business schools for white Austinites. Ms. Gilbert had previously started the business department at Texas Southern University, a historically Black university in Houston. Mr. Posey was one of five “outstanding citizens” honored at the People’s Business College 1955 graduation. He was active in community life as a Mason and a trustee in Wesley Methodist Church. Eddie Posey died in 1969. PARCEL NO.: 0209070402 LEGAL DESCRIPTION: E 46' OF LOT 2 BLK 8 OLT 38 DIV B OREILLY JAMES ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX ABATEMENT: $4,152 (owner-occupied); city portion: $45; county portion: $46; AISD portion: $3,228. This estimate is based on the homestead values of the property. APPRAISED VALUE: $426,090 (homestead; total value is $582,383) PRESENT USE: Single-family residence with ADU in rear CONDITION: Good PRESENT OWNERS: Erika W. and Patrick F. Brosnan 1304 Bob Harrison Street Austin, TX 78702-1136 DATE BUILT: ca. 1924 ALTERATIONS/ADDITIONS: Rear and side additions constructed after 1962  ORIGINAL OWNER(S): Samuel Posey (ca. 1924-1941) and descendants (1941-98) OTHER HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS: None LOCATION MAP ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: “College Grad Shines Shoes,” Austin American-Statesman 4/7/1950. (Con’t next page)  “College Grad Shines Shoes,” Austin American-Statesman 4/7/1950.  “Business College Graduation Slated,” The Austin American, 3/13/1955  Death announcement for Eddie Posey, The Austin Statesman, 7/13/1969 Obituary for Leon George Posey, Austin American-Statesman 1/24/1999.