D.7.0 - 1709 Eva St — original pdf

Backup

HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JANUARY 24, 2022 PR-2021-200118, GF-2021-205545 1709 EVA STREET D.7 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1912 house. ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH Single-story side-gabled house, clad in asbestos siding with six-light and single-light wood windows with aluminum screens. The house has a central partial-width, flat-roofed porch with decorative iron supports and railing. The house at 1709 Eva Street was built around 1912. Leonard L. Bridwell, a driver for J. C. McKinstry, was the first recorded occupant of the house. The house was later occupied by various renters, most of whom worked as laborers. Joseph Wright is listed as the home’s occupant in 1927 and later with his wife, Melissa, in 1929. Joseph worked as a janitor for the Confederate Home. The next long-time renters of the house were Houston and Clara Desmond, who lived in the house from around 1935–1941. Houston worked as a laborer for the City Street & Bridge Division. The house was then rented by Joseph and Louise Edwards in 1944. Joseph was a carpenter for Calcasieu Lumber. Earnest and Willie Young rented the house in 1947. Earnest worked as a driver. Arnold and Annie Cain owned the house from around 1949–1952. Arnold worked as a firefighter for S. P. Lines. Oscar and Wilma Proffitt owned the house beginning in 1955. Oscar worked as a clerk for W.G. Rissmann Grocery. PROPERTY EVALUATION The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey and Assessment, Austin, Texas (Preservation Central, Inc., 2016) lists the property as contributing to a potential Brackenridge School Historic District, recommended as eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and as a local historic district. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and that it does not meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The house is an example of an early 20th-century house with historic-period changes including installation of asbestos siding and replacement of an earlier full-width porch. b. Historical association. The property does not appear to have significant historical associations. 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 property 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 Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, then relocation over demolition, but release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package. LOCATION MAP D.7 – 2 D.7 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos Occupancy History City Directory Research, September 2021; January 2017 Application, 2021 1959 1957 1955 1952 1949 1947 1944 1941 1939 Oscar R. and Wilma Proffitt, owners Clerk, W.G. Rissmann Oscar R. and Annie Proffitt, owners Clerk, W.G. Rissmann Oscar R. and Annie A. Proffitt, owners Clerk, W.G. Rissmann Grocery Arnold and Annie Cain, owners Arnold and Annie Cain, owners Fireman, S. P. Lines Earnest C. and Willie B. Young, owners Driver Joseph S. C. Jr. and Louise E. Edwards, renters Carpenter, Calcasieu Lumber Co. Anna McAllester, renter Houston and Clara Desmond, renters Laborer, City Street & Bridge Division Houston and Clara Desmond, renters Laborer D.7 – 4 1937 1935 1932 1929 1927 1924 1922 1918 1914 1912 1910 Houston and Clara Desmond, renters Laborer, City Street & Bridge Division Houston and Clara Desmond, renters Elton L. Gomillion, renter Clerk, Pate & Scott Joseph E. and Melissa Wright, owners Janitor, Confederate Home Joseph E. Wright, renter Janitor, Confederate Home Robert C. Slussler, renter Laborer, Calcasieu Lumber Co. Charles W. and Flora Scott, renters Isaac and Maggie Garner, renters Laborer Leonard L. Bridwell Driver, J. C. McKinstry Vacant Address not listed Biographical Information Wilma Proffitt retired from teaching after 25 years. Austin Statesman, May 31, 1970, C5. D.7 – 5 Permits Sanborn Fire Insurance maps Sewer service permit, 1917 1935, Sheet 223 1922, Sheet 62 BOULDIN CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY AND ASSESSMENT AUSTIN, TEXAS c. 1894 Arthur Bouldin Terrell House, 1901 S. 2nd St. (615 W. Mary) Preservation Central, Inc., Consultants Principal Investigator: Terri Myers Contributors: Kristen Brown and Trude Cables Project Sponsored and Funded by the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association May 2016 Guidelines drafted by neighborhood residents can limit the nature and scope of alterations to historic buildings and determine the appropriateness of demolitions and new construction. Typically, district standards do not prohibit new construction or additions to existing buildings but merely establish the conditions under which they may be built. For instance, design standards in historic districts generally require that new additions be placed at the rear or least visible side of a historic building to preserve the integrity of its street-facing appearance. Likewise, the construction of entirely new buildings is generally allowed but their size, scale, massing, materials and architectural style should be compatible with those of nearby historic resources. These observations can be applied to the entire Bouldin Creek Neighborhood survey area or to smaller segments of the larger community as defined below. Brackenridge School Historic District: c. 1890-1935 The Brackenridge School Historic District is a residential district associated with the Brackenridge School for Colored Children, a historic school built at 319 W. Elizabeth Street by 1909 and serving the surrounding African American community as late as 1965. The establishment of the school reflected the presence of an African American settlement that existed in the vicinity of W. Elizabeth, W. Annie, W. Johanna, and on Newton streets by the turn of the 20th century. Several early and significant African American churches, including St. Annie A.M.E., Goodwill Baptist, and Friendly Will Baptist, were also built in this district; St. Annie and Goodwill Baptist continue to serve descendants of those early congregations to the present. The Brackenridge School Historic District is one of the largest, oldest, and most intact sub- districts within the Bouldin Creek survey area. Virtually all of Eva Street, from Gibson Street on the north to W. Johanna Street on the south, and the east side of Newton Street, from Nellie on the north to W. Johanna on the south, contain blocks of relatively intact historic buildings. Intersecting blocks of Elizabeth, Monroe, Milton, Annie, Mary, and Johanna streets also have good concentrations of historic resources and are included in the proposed district (See Brackenridge School Historic District map in the appendices). Historic resources in the sub-district consist largely of c. 1900-1910 2-room board-and- batten houses, like the Willie Wells House (c. 1909) at 1705 Newton Street, numerous frame bungalows dating to the 1920s and 1930s, and the early 20th century neighborhood churches. Live Oak Grove Historic District: 1930-1955 The Live Oak Grove sub-district lies south of the Brackenridge School sub-district, between Crockett Street on the north and W. Oltorf Road on the south. Good, intact streetscapes dating from the mid-to late-1920s through the 1950s are found in the adjacent 2100 blocks of Eva, Newton, and Wilson 33