26.0 - 601 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS JUNE 4, 2025 2025-051801 DA; GF-2025-059338 26 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1936 store building. ARCHITECTURE The building at 601 West Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. is a traditional two-part commercial block, clad in masonry, with a stepped parapet. This type of human-scale commercial architecture can help encourage pedestrian traffic on our city’s central corridors. RESEARCH The building at 601 West Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, originally addressed as 601 West 19th Street, was constructed around 1936. An existing residential building, demolished between 1984 and 1997, stood further back on the lot; Sanborn maps show that the ca. 1907 house gradually grew from a modest dwelling to a large duplex structure as additions were constructed. The store was originally occupied by Cantrell’s Drugs, owned by Clyde and Lucille Cantrell. After only two years, the Cantrells sold their store to the Nau family. Ladner and Hilton Nau were no strangers to the drugstore business. According to a 2021 history by Elizabeth Brummett, they established many of Austin’s drugstores and soda fountains: Historically, multiple drug stores bore the Nau name, most owned by Hilton’s older brother Ladner. Ladner Nau came to Austin in 1926 to go to pharmacy school at the University of Texas. After working at a drug store for a couple of years, he and the proprietor of that store opened the Community Drug Store at 1201 E. 1st (Cesar Chavez) and Waller streets. Shortly thereafter, he bought the business outright. In 1935, Ladner established Nau’s San Jacinto Drug Store at 1819–21 San Jacinto St. This location remained in operation for nearly 30 years. Nau’s Drug Store No. 2 at 913 E. 1st St. operated under the management of Maynard Anderson from at least 1949 through 1959. In 1964, Ladner Nau closed the San Jacinto location and opened Nau’s Pharmacy at 2405 San Gabriel St. Though Ladner had retired, the pharmacy remained open in 1980, but neither the business nor the building presently remains. Hilton Nau also attended the University of Texas. Per City Directories, he worked as a pharmacist at the San Jacinto Drug Store in 1937 but by 1939 had co-founded Nau’s Nueces Drug Co. with Ladner. Hilton married Eleanor Liebscher in 1945. In 1951, the couple established Nau’s Enfield Drug Store. Eleanor Nau did the bookkeeping, continuing for years after the couple sold the business to pharmacist Lambert Labay in 1972. Labay continues to operate the drugstore and soda fountain.1 From 1938 to 1952, the drugstore served the surrounding residential area as a place to stop and eat, as well as a pharmacy—much like the Naus’ other famous Austin enterprise, Nau’s Enfield Drug. The upper floor was rented to an optometrist’s office. By the mid-1950s, likely due to Enfield’s burgeoning success, they sold the West 19th Street property; it briefly became the Nueces Café before it was sold to photographer Gilmore C. Williams. Studio Gilmore operated for about twenty years. Williams, who served as the director of the Texas Professional Photographers Association, was an award-winning portrait artist who often appeared alongside luminary Dewey Mears in guild publications. Though Gilmore began his business in general portraiture, he soon became a popular photographer for sorority and wedding portraits, no doubt leveraged by his studio’s location near the University of Texas. In 1971, Williams left the studio to take a position as head Central Texas College’s (now ACC’s) new Department of Photography. According to his 2004 obituary, Williams created the Photographic Technology Project at the college two years later, retiring from teaching in 1991.2 PROPERTY EVALUATION The draft 2025 Downtown Austin Historic Resource Survey lists the property as contributing to potential local and National Register historic districts. 1 https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=362619 2 https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/statesman/name/gilmore-williams-obituary?id=27903392 26 – 2 Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity. Though the windows have been replaced and some infilled at the first floor, the changes are evident and reversible. 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 for landmark designation: a. Architecture. The building is a good example of a two-part commercial block. b. Historical association. The property is associated with the Nau drugstore enterprise and with photographer William C. Gilmore. It is one of the last existing unaltered Nau drugstores. 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 appear to 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 Strongly encourage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, then material salvage and reuse, but release the demolition permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package. LOCATION MAP 26 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos 26 – 4 Google Street View, 2022 1940 aerial photo showing position of rear house on lot Occupancy History City Directory Research, January 2025 26 – 5 1959 1955 1952 1949 1944 1940 1939 1937 Address listed as 601 W 19th St 601: Gilmore Photography Studio, owned by Gilmore C. Williams Jr. 601a: Louis L. and Georgie Robertson, owners – Construction Superintendent at Yarbrough Construction 601b: Jo A. Austin, renter 601 ½ : William Armour, renter – Timekeeper at J. M. Odom Construction John A. Voelkel, renter - Student 601: Gilmore Photography Studio, owned by Gilmore C. Williams Jr. 601 ½ : Vacant 601: Vacant 601a: Vacant 601b: H. W. Myerly, renter - Projectionist 601 ½ : Bruce Meador, renter - Student 601: Nueces Drug Co, owned by E. Hilton Nau 601a: Custom Made Dress Shop Dressmakers, owned by Martha Connor 601b: Harold F. Ingersoll, renter - Accountant 601 ½ : Nueces Beauty Shop, owned by Pearl Kennedy Address listed as 601 W 19th St 601: Nueces Drug Co, owned by E. Hilton Nau 601a: Robert O. Thomas, renter 601b: Alice Urbanosky, renter 601 ½ : Laura A. McGlasson, renter Dwight E. Norris, renter Address listed as 601 W 19th St 601: Nueces Drug Co, owned by E. Hilton Nau 601a: Mrs. Mary Franklin, renter 601b: L. M. Schenk, renter Address not listed Cantrell’s Drugs – owned by Clyde E. and Lucille Cantrell Historical Information 1935 Sanborn map 26 – 6 1961 Sanborn map The Austin Statesman (1902-1915); Austin, Tex.. 24 Oct 1907: 8. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 06 Aug 1933: 14 The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 20 Oct 1935: 6. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 19 Apr 1936: 9. 26 – 7 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 11 Feb 1938: 14. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 21 Apr 1946: 18. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 05 Oct 1953: 3 26 – 8 The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 10 Apr 1955: B14.. The Austin American (1914-1973); Austin, Tex.. 14 Aug 1955: D4. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 31 July 1958: B11. 26 – 9 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 15 July 1959: 16 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 23 Aug 1961: 17. 26 – 10 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 06 Mar 1971: 2. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 07 June 1971: 7. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex.. 08 Nov 1972: 83. Permits 26 – 11 Water tap, 1933 Water tap, 1936 Interior remodel permit, 1946 26 – 12