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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION PERMITS IN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICTS FEBRUARY 7, 2024 HR-2024-005097 SIXTH STREET NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT 514 EAST SIXTH STREET 18 – 1 PROPOSAL ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH Remodel and convert a ca. 1885 commercial building to a restaurant. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS 1) Repair and repaint the existing brick façade. 2) Replace non-historic fixed windows with more appropriate 1:1 wood-clad sash windows. 3) Replace the storefront within the existing openings, retaining existing corrugated metal paneling. 4) Add a painted metal awning. 514 E. 6th Street is a two-story brick structure with brick molds in a zigzag pattern and detailed brick cornice. The brick façade has been painted since the 1975 survey. The existing storefront is altered, with changes beginning during the 1950s according to City permits. Built before 1885, 514 East 6th Street appears on Sanborn maps as the earliest two-story building constructed entirely of brick on this block; its elaborate detailing on the second floor emphasizes that this building was likely an expensively crafted showpiece designed to draw customers. Listed as a grocery store with live-in tenants until 1889—including Dr. Quentin Neale, an African American physician and surgeon who officed and likely lived in the building--and then as a saloon in 1894, it soon transitioned into housing nearly a hundred years of retail sales. Addie and Albert Rysinger, Black business owners who worked as a milliner and a shoemaker, operated their business alongside a tailor shop, restaurant, and bakery at 514 East 6th for about 15 years, until Addie Rysinger appears to have taken over the restaurant portion of the business. By the 1920s, a series of furniture stores, a stove repair company, and a plumbing and heating business occupied the building. By the 1930s, African American businessman W. D. Lyons had purchased the building and constructed a new “sister” building next door at 516 East 6th, which eventually became a paint store. Notably, either the upper floor or a rear building was the home of the American Woodmen, a Black fraternal and benefits organization begun in Austin by Cassius M. White and Granville W. Norman at the turn of the century.1 By the 1950s, the Woodmen boasted about 50,000 members.2 By the 1960s, both buildings contained businesses owned by the Olson family under the Southern Investments umbrella. 514 focused on appliances and foreign car sales, while 516 housed the finance offices. DESIGN STANDARDS The design standards established by Ordinance No. 20230720-160 (July 2023) and based on the Citywide Historic Design Standards for properties in the 500 and 600 blocks of East Sixth Street apply. The proposed project was evaluated based on the following applicable standards: Rehabilitate and adaptively reuse contributing buildings, including at least the first 15 feet of historic facades. The proposed alterations include retention of most of the building’s historic-age façade and do not appear to preclude potential future designation. The applicant has amended the proposal to better incorporate some Committee feedback. Summary The project meets the applicable standards. 1 “American Woodmen of Kentucky,” https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/3024, citing Schmidt, Alvin J., “Fraternal organizations,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. 2 “Cassius M. Wright,” Civil Rights Memorials, 2018. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMY4PC_Cassius_M_White_The_American_Woodmen_Denver_CO_USA 18 – 2 PROPERTY EVALUATION The building contributes to the Sixth Street National Register Historic District. The 2022 Sixth Street Snapshot resurvey lists the property as contributing to the Sixth Street National Register Historic District. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity. The first-floor storefront has been significantly altered, though alterations may have begun during the historic period. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it may meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The building is a two-part commercial block. b. Historical association. The property is associated with the shift in development, business, and settlement patterns around the early twentieth century, as small shops gave way to automobile-based businesses. It is also associated with the Rysinger family, and briefly with the American Woodmen. 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 appears to be one of the most ornate and oldest extant buildings on the block, and is associated with early Black businesspeople and entrepreneurs on East 6th Street. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. COMMITTEE FEEDBACK Continue masonry patterns rather than keeping tiles or the corrugated metal accent. Perform paint analysis if possible and investigate the feasibility of exposing masonry. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Concur with Committee feedback and comment on plans, encouraging the applicant to consider using historic photos when replacing the storefront and awning. LOCATION MAP 18 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos 18 – 4 Google Street View, 2022; MacRostie, Inc., Sixth Street Snapshot Re-survey, 2022 514-16, nd: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth677300/m1/1/ 18 – 5 Austin History Center, n.d. PICH 02039 Occupancy History City Directory Research, June 2022 The address is listed as 518 E 6th Street, along with the building next door. Southern Investment Company (auto loans) 1959 1957 1955 1952 1947 1944 1941 1937 1935 1932 1929 1924 Southern Investment Company Southern Investment Company Santa Fe Paint Company Santa Fe Paint Company The address is listed as 516-18 E 6th Street. Southern Investment Company (auto loans) Olson Automobile Company 516 – S. M. Lightsey (furniture) 516 ½ – Vacant S. M. Lightsey (furniture) Joseph Slawson (furniture) S. H. Patton (furniture) Southern Investment Company auto loans 516 ½ - American Woodman (Note: the directory indicates that the American Woodmen are an African American organization) P.A. Williams (notary) The address listed as 516 E 6th Street. Southern Finance Company 516 ½ - American Woodman (Note: the directory indicates that the American Woodmen are an African American organization) P.A. Williams (notary) 18 – 6 The address is listed as 514 E. 6th Street. Matthias Grein (baker) Addie W. Rysinger (restaurant) 514 ½ - A. W. Rysinger (milliner) Addie W. Rysinger (milliner) Matthias Grein (baker) 514 ½ - Antonio Fazzito (restaurant) Addie W. Rysinger (milliner) Matthias Grein (baker) 514 ½ - Pinckney A. Williams (real estate) M. M. Haynes (office) The Herald Addie W. Rysinger (milliner) Albert Rysinger (shoemaker) Matthias Grein (baker) 514 ½ - Henry G. Grant (restaurant) 1920 1918 1916 1912 1906 1899 1897 1895 1889 1887 Addie Rysinger (millinery) Albert Rysinger (shoemaker) (Note: the directory indicates that the Rysinger family is African American) Westley & Guest (tailors) Mitchell & Gurdett 516- Henry Shaw, blacksmith (Note: the directory indicates that Shaw is African American) 514 – Green Light Saloon L. B. Priest, Green Light Saloon Jack Burch, restaurant Peter Rasmussen, saloon (rear) Lillie Caldwell 1891-94 Isaac Bonts, saloon John S. Barnard, wagon yard John S. Barnard and John A. Price, grocery Quinton B. Neale, physician and surgeon (Note: the directory indicates that Shaw is African American) Lashwah Neale, boarder Historical information Sanborn map, 1961 18 – 7 Sanborn map, 1935 Sanborn map, 1900 Sanborn map, 1894 18 – 8 Sanborn map, 1889 Sanborn map, 1885 The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 02 May 1926: 2. 18 – 9 The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 08 Nov 1930: 8. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 10 Aug 1944: 9. 18 – 10 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 19 Nov 1952: B3. 18 – 11 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 13 Oct 1960: B4. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 27 Oct 1960: A21. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 02 Apr 1966: A16. 18 – 12 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 21 July 1967: 19. Permits Water service permit, 1938 Sewer service permit, 1938 18 – 13 Building permit, 1954