Around Old Town

For Sale in Old Town

2012-02-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

This cute 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in Old Town is now for sale. I'm prejudiced, of course, because it is my house. But it is not that often that houses come up for sale in Old Town that are move-in ready and relatively affordable. If you know anyone who is looking for a house in Old Town, please share this listing with them:
http://actris.mlxchange.com/DotNet/Pub/EmailView.aspx?r=168841478&s=AUS&t=AUS

Ranch Redo

2012-01-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

This ranch house at the corner of Virginia and 16th Streets sat stripped down to the tar paper for several years. Someone has finally come in and finished the restoration. Several nearby ranch houses on Hutto Road have also recently been renovated as well.

Complete Renovation

2012-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

A local resident recently purchased this house at the corner of College and 15th Streets and is completely renovating it before reselling it.

Restoration Project

2011-11-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

This bungalow at the corner of Ash and 15th Streets recently changed hands after being in the same family for several decades and receiving very little maintenance. The new owners are planning an extensive renovation project which will include the addition of a second floor. I had the opportunity to see this house when it was on the market and it has a lot of potential! Much of the original woodwork inside is still in its original condition.

A Victorian Lady Gets Restored

2011-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

This beautiful house at 1304 Elm Street was one of three built on this block of Elm Street in 1895 by the Belford Lumber Company, which was the pre-eminent builder in Georgetown from the 1870s to the 1920s. The house was on the market for several years but no one was willing to take on such a large restoration project. Finally, local contractor Larry Crabb decided to restore the house himself and then resell it. The transformation in just a very short period of time has been amazing!

Up for Demolition

2011-10-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

This house at the corner of 5th and Pine Streets was recently purchased by a new owner and that owner went before HARC Oct. 27 for approval to demolish the house. HARC faces a tough decision on this one - the house has historical significance because its original owner was the bookkeeper for the Griffith Lumber Company, which built many of Georgetown's historic homes. But the house was remodeled extensively by a previous owner, who apparently added a second story to raise parakeets! The new owner hopes to build a new craftsman-style house in its place.

Being Remodeled

2011-09-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

This 1920 house at the corner of Myrtle and 5th Streets has new owners and they are planning some extensive changes to it, including a new addition on the north side, and a wrap-around porch on the west and south sides.

Slated for demolition

2011-08-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

An Austin couple has purchased this property at 401 E. 7th St. as well as the adjacent vacant lot at the corner of Elm and 7th Streets. They plan to demolish this house and use both lots to build a new house. HARC approved demolition of this non-historic house at its July 28 meeting.

Coming Soon

2011-07-20T14:10:00.001-07:00

Some lucky person was able to obtain this lot at the corner of Walnut and 4th Streets to build a new house in Old Town. Let's hope they build something that fits into Old Town!

Adding On

2011-07-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

From my back yard I can see the new addition to this house at the corner of 9th and Ash Streets going up.

Future office space?

2011-05-02T06:57:00.001-07:00

After several years of unsuccessfully trying to sell this house at 409 E. University Ave., the owners petitioned the city to change it from residential to office. However, after the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 against the rezoning at its June 7 meeting, the owners have indefinitely "pulled" the zoning change request.

Restoration Project

2011-04-24T12:29:00.001-07:00

It looks like someone has taken on the challenge of restoring this house at the south end of Olive Street.

Under New Ownership

2011-03-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Someone has taken on the challenge of restoring this house in the 300 block of University. So many of the old houses along University have been lost, it is nice to see one being saved.

Down to the Shell

2011-03-27T09:36:00.001-07:00

This house in the 900 block of Walnut Street has sat vacant for several years. Now it appears that renovation work is in full swing. The house has been stripped down to the shell and a new addition and garage are being added.

Transformation

2011-03-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

The transformation is complete on the house at 17th and Main Streets, which was originally featured here in November 2010 (bottom photo).

Near the Square

2011-02-26T17:42:00.001-08:00

Several properties near the downtown square are undergoing renovation. Someone purchased an old warehouse building on Myrtle Street (bottom) and is fixing it up nicely. A small bungalow on Rock Street was also gutted recently and had a new driveway put in (top photos). Ironically, both buildings have a similar mustard yellow color!

The Barcus House

2011-02-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I met the new owners of the Barcus House at the corner of 11th and Ash Streets. This house is called the Barcus House because one of its first owners was J. Samuel Barcus, who served as president of Southwestern University from 1924-1928. The new owners are doing several things to restore the house, including straightening the garage (see photo below) and restoring the windows in the house to their original size.

Inappropriate additions?

2011-01-31T17:38:00.000-08:00

This little house on Hutto Road used to be really cute, with a small dormer window above the door. In a quest to get more space, the new owners have put on an addition that is totally out of context with the house's architectural style. This isn't the only home on Hutto Road that has suffered this fate. Just up the street is a newer home with what many people consider to be a very inappropriate addition in the rear. Under new rules recently passed by City Council, additions will not be permitted on the front of houses in Old Town without approval from HARC.

Demolition by Neglect

2011-01-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

This house at 707 E. 13th St. has been an eyesore to neighbors for 15 years. What is particularly sad is the fact that the owner lives in Georgetown but has not bothered to visit the property for five years. So when he applied to HARC for permission to demolish the house, HARC denied the request due to the fact that the it was an obvious case of demolition by neglect. Unfortunately, the owner will eventually get to demolish it - all he has to do is wait 175 days and then HARC has to approve his request for demolition. Under a proposal now before City Council, property owners who are guilty of demolition by neglect would have to wait a year before they are allowed to tear down houses in Old Town. Photos of two houses just around the corner from this house show what it might look like if it had been properly maintained.

Moving to Jonah

2011-01-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

The Historic and Architectural Review Commission (HARC) has approved plans to move this house at 1809 Main St. to Jonah. Apparently this won't be the first time it has been moved. It was originally located at Fort Hood. The property owner plans to replace this house with a new one that is 2,500 square feet. Stay tuned....

Tracing the Life of Jesse Daniel Ames

2011-01-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Many people know that women's suffrage advocate Jesse Daniel Ames lived in the yellow house on Church Street (second photo from the top) because there is a historical marker in front of it. What people may not know is that there is another house in Georgetown with ties to Ames.

The beautiful Victorian house at 705 E. 3rd St. was Ames' childhood home. Fifteen years ago it was so run down that many people thought it should be torn down. But George and Barbara Meyer were up to the task and lovingly restored it.

Barbara Meyer told this story several times in recent months as various city boards considered changes to the city's Unified Development Code (UDC) that would make it harder for people to demolish historic houses in Old Town. With the help of concerned citizens like the Meyers, the City Council approved the tougher restrictions at its first reading on Jan. 25.

Also shown in this post is a photo of what Ames' house on Church Street looked like when the current owners, Michele and Herb Ledebohm, bought it in 2004.

And finally, I have posted a photo of Jesse Daniel Ames' grave in the IOOF Cemetery behind Southwestern University. She is buried there along with her parents and her youngest daughter. Southwestern University historian Bill Jones helped me find the gravesite.

Bungalow Remodeling is Booming

2010-11-29T14:28:00.001-08:00

Several bungalows in town are being remodeled, including the one at 1803 Austin Ave., the one at 1504 Ash and the one at 2004 Main St. To see what bungalows in Old Town can look like with a little remodeling, check out the photo of the remodeled bungalow at 2006 Church Street (bottom), which was originally featured in a September 2009 post when it was under construction.

Under Renovation

2010-11-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

Several homes in Old Town are currently being renovated, including this one at 200 Walnut (bottom) and this one at 1603 Church (top).

A Victorian Lady

2010-11-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

Exterior renovations have been completed on the house at 803 College St. Except for the new additions, the house looks very much like it might have during the Victorian period. See the previous post from April 15, 2010 for photos of the house before renovation and when it was first built.

Georgetown's Historian

2010-09-30T14:34:00.001-07:00

I finally got the chance today to meet Ralph Love, who is Georgetown's unofficial historian. Mr. Love's great uncle was David Love, who was one of Georgetown's early businessmen. Two buildings on the square are named after him. Mr. Love works part-time at the Georgetown Library and helps residents who have questions about local history and geneology. I was hoping he might be able to find an old photo of my house or some information on the first owner. He wasn't able to find anything right away, but he promised to do some research for me. While I was looking at the albums of old photos the library has, I took a picture of the old train depot that used to be located near Southwestern (where the feed store is now). Mr. Love said in the 1920s, trains used to arrive at this depot with orphans who were up for adoption and people would come pick out children they wanted. The depot was unfortunately torn down in the 1970s.

Save This House

2010-09-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

The owner of this house on University Avenue is selling it to be moved, probably to make way for commercial development. The house is located across from the shopping center in which El Patron is located. The listing agent Lackey Real Estate, (512) 863-9613 or lackeyreal.estate@verizon.net

Update - The Tate House

2010-07-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is how the Tate House (see previous post) looked after just two weeks of remodeling. It just goes to show what hidden gems we have in Georgetown for people who are willing to put the time and money into them! The house next to this one (803 S. College St.) is now being repainted in a coordinating color scheme.

The Tate House

2010-05-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

The same family that purchased the Leavell House (see earlier posts) has also purchased the green bungalow that is next to it at 807 College St. A woman named Mrs. Tate lived there for many years. The first order of business is clearing the yard, which had gotten quite overgrown. The new owners offered some of the plants in the yard to neighbors who wanted them, as well as some old bricks. Will Moore took the bricks to build a new walkway in front of the Logan-Parker house he is renovating on 7th Street (see earlier post about Sears Kit homes). We'll have to get a picture of that when it is done!

Remodeling Project

2010-04-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

One of my co-workers at Southwestern bought this house at 1209 Olive St. and is remodeling it. You can see the original wood siding underneath the other siding.

The Lane- Riley House

2010-04-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Bill Jones, the Southwestern University Historian, took me to see this house this week. It came up because I asked him to clarify whether Rev. James Sterling Lane was the first chaplain at Southwestern. Dr. Jones said that Rev. Lane served as chaplain for Southwestern in his capacity as minister of the First United Methodist Church in Georgetown (in those days the minister of the Methodist Church also served as the chaplain at Southwestern). Dr. Jones then told me that Rev. Lane's home in Georgetown is still standing, so we went to visit it. The house is located at 1302 College St. It is vacant and needs a lot of work. It was built in 1872, the same year Southwestern University was being founded in Georgetown. In 1908, it was bought by another Methodist minister, Rev. George Riley (1853-1925). Descendents of Rev. Riley apparently still own the home. The house has a Texas Historical Marker and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It still has the old well on the property. Rev. Lane was a Civil War veteran and is buried in the IOOF cemetery behind Southwestern. His grave is one of the ones featured on the Williamson Museum's cemetery tour this weekend (May 1, 2010).

The John Leavell Homestead

2010-04-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Work is going full-swing on the house at 803 College St., which is known as the John Leavell Homestead. The new owners are adding an addition on the south side of the house, a garage on the north side of the house, and several rooms on the back of the house. They also appear to be adding a porch on the front. For the record, I am posting a photo of the house as it looked in 1896. This photo hangs in what used to be the County Seat restaurant. The house was built in 1880.

A new garage

2010-02-27T09:12:00.001-08:00

I don't know whether last week's snow caused the roof of this dilapidated garage on College Street to cave in or whether the owners decided to finally tear it down. In any case, it is being rebuilt, which will be a nice improvement to the neighborhood.

Updates

2010-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

In this post, I provide updates on several properties we have been following for the past few months.

The gas station/garage on University Avenue at Church Street has been sold. Whitestone Tire Center, which is currently located at 1000 S. Austin Ave., plans to remodel the building for its new store. They are going before HARC Feb. 25 to get their plans approved.
Two blocks down on Church Street, the garage and addition have been framed for the house at yellow house at 1009 Church St.
Work began in earnest this week at the house at 601 College Street. Several dumpsters full old old asbestos and other things were seen being removed. It appears the new owner plans to renovate the house from top to bottom - literally.
A little further down College Street, the house at 307 College Street has now been framed and we can start to see what it will look like.
And finally, the rebuilt Booty House is really starting to look good. It will be great to have this beautiful house back on University Avenue.

The Taylor-Cooper House

2010-01-23T16:09:00.001-08:00

This house has been on my radar screen for some time now. At first, I thought it was another house that was falling victim to "demolition by neglect." But the house was so hidden behind overgrown plants that it was hard to get a look at it. This week, I noticed that someone has finally cleared all the overgrowth from the yard. I also saw someone working on the house.

This house was originally built around 1870 for Captain Emzy Taylor, who was a retired Confederate Army officer. Taylor founded the First National Bank in Georgetown and helped establish the Georgetown Railroad Company. The house occupies an entire block near downtown that is probably prime real estate, so it would be easy to see why someone would want to let the house become so run down that it has to be town down. With the brush removed, you can see what are probably original outbuildings on the property. The house also has a concrete step in the front near the street that was probably used to get on or off carriages.

They paved paradise...

2009-12-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Another old house in Georgetown is being lost to a parking lot. The houses on either side of this house were already torn down to make parking lots for a bank on the west side of Austin Avenue. Now this one is going as well. The house is being saved but it is being moved to another town in eastern Williamson County.

Sears Kit houses

2009-12-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

Will Moore bought this house that was previously located at 4th and Elm Streets. Many people call it the Parker House because it used to be owned by a Southwestern English professor named Lois Parker. Will has moved it next to his house on 6th Street and is working on restoring it. Luckily, he has a model right in town to work from. The house Will now owns was made from a kit sold by Sears, hence the name "Sears Kit house." A house apparently made from the same kit is located on Olive Street (This house is undergoing some restoration work itself at the moment). Will says he recognized the house on Olive Street a few years ago when he and his wife were walking to the old Monument Cafe for breakfast. The owner was outside working on the house and told Will he had no idea it was a Sears home. Will says George Logan, Jr., who was born in the Logan-Parker house in 1913, visited him in 2006 and verified that his father, the original owner of the house Will now owns, told him that he had the kit shipped to the old Railroad Station at the end of 8th Street (where the feed store is now), then loaded it on wagons and took it to the lot at 4th and Elm where a local lumber company put it together. The house Will owns still has the original four stained glass windows in the living room that were unique to this particular Sears kit home but unfortunately the house on Olive Street does not.

4th and College Streets

2009-12-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

It looks like a new house is going up at the intersection of 4th and College Streets.

The Booty House

2009-12-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

Louise Walsh sent me a photo of the Booty House before it burned down so we can compare the new house with the original. Here's a photo of what the house under construction looked like on Dec. 9. It looks like it is going to be a pretty accurate reconstruction of the original house.

The Young Dairy house

2009-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

I just discovered the most interesting history of one of the houses in Georgetown. I had always known that some of the land owned by Southwestern University used to be a dairy farm, but I never knew that there was a house on that property that had been moved and preserved.

The Young Dairy house was built in 1901 by the Belford Lumber Company for Ryland Fletcher Young, one of the original five long-time professors at Southwestern. Professor Young ran a large dairy operation on the property while he continued to teach at the university. After he retired from teaching, he continued to run the dairy farm until his death in 1925. Many Southwestern students worked on the farm and dairy in exchange for room and board at the house.

The dairy operation flourished until 1942 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt froze dairy prices during WWII. However, Southwestern University needed milk for young men who were part of a naval unit training on campus during WWII, so the university bought the property from the Young family. One of Professor Young's sons managed the property until 1948. According to Dr. William B. Jones history book about Southwestern University, To Survive and Excel, Southwestern continued to own the property and lease the dairy operation to other people until the mid-1970s. At that time, the university sold the dairy equipment to raise funds to help renovate Mood Hall.

At the time the dairy equipment was sold, the house had sat vacant on the property for many years and was in terrible shape. Most people thought it should be torn down. However, a couple named Leon and Carolyn Douglas took on the task of moving the house and restoring it. They had it moved to 1243 Main St. in 1978. Today, it is one of the most photographed homes in Georgetown and is on the 2009 Holiday Home Tour sponsored by the Georgetown Heritage Society.

This is a great example of how houses can still be saved even if they look like they have been damaged beyond repair.

1009 Church St.

2009-11-29T08:12:00.001-08:00

This house was at the center of a citywide controversy in 2008 when the owner proposed to move it to make way for a parking lot when the former Wesleyan retirement home was redeveloped for commercial use. After many Old Town residents protested the proposed move of the historic house, the owner agreed to work with the city on an alternate parking plan for the Wesleyan project. Now in an ironic turn of events, the owner has decided to live in this house himself and is adding an addition to it. The original garage has been demolished.

707 E. 7th St.

2009-10-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

This house has been undergoing major repairs laterly. All the exterior paneling was replaced.

Closed

2009-10-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Texaco Station on University near Church Street has closed and moved to a new location. This had been a major eyesore in Old Town because they always had lots of cars on the grass, etc. Let's hope someone buys the property and puts something more attractive there.

Good idea or bad?

2009-09-07T11:57:00.001-07:00

Residents of Main Street are divided on whether these "bulb-outs," which were added as part of a recent repaving project, are a good idea or a bad one. Those who favor the cement planting areas hope they will slow traffic on the street. Those who oppose them say they will create hazards for drivers as well as require water that the city cannot spare.

Church Street remodel

2009-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

This former bungalow house in the 1800 block of Church Street has been stripped down to its frame. The fact the the roof framing was also removed seems to indicate that it is being remodeled to have a second story. We'll keep following it.

404 E. 9th St.

2009-09-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

This is the house behind mine. It used to be a rental property, but the owner has made some improvements to it and is now trying to selling it. I hope I get some good new neighbors!

Update - 308 E. University

2009-09-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Workers have already framed the second story for the new house at 308 E. University. It appears that the owners are rebuilding the house to look like it originally did before it burned down.

Update - 803 S. College St.

2009-08-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I wrote how the house at 803 S. College St. had gone into foreclosure, but now has some new owners. Those new owners are going before HARC Aug. 27 to try and get permission to demolish the garage on the property so they can add an addition to the house. The drawing to the left is what the new owners propose to do.

Update: HARC approved the demolition of the old garage, so the new owners are going to be able to proceed with this addition. The garage was demolished on Labor Day.

The Price House

2009-08-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

This beautiful Eastlake-style Victorian house sits at 209 E. 10th St., just a few blocks down from my house. I just finished reading the most amazing book that details the lives of the first owners of this house. The original owner, Mr. Price, was a founding attorney in the law firm of Makemson, Fisher & Price. Mr. Price and his wife had six children who grew up in this house. One of them, Early Price, saved all the letters that were written to her by her family and her many suitors. Early's granddaughter, Louise Walsh, has recently finished compiling a book that contains all these letters, as well as many photographs and memorabilia from the early 1900s that relate to the Price family.

To read more about Louise Walsh and her book, visit http://www.southwestern.edu/newsroom/story.php?id=1418

Louise tells me that this house was originally dark green trimmed with cream and red accents. It stayed in the Price family until the 1950s, and has had many owners since. The current owner(s) live outside Georgetown and do not live in the house. They had let the yard get so overgrown that the neighbor across the street had to complain about it to code enforcement. Finally a few weeks ago the weeds and brush got cleared and we can once again see this beautiful house. One thing that had been hidden under all the weeds is a concrete slab that says "PRICE." It's a fascinating reminder about how much history all these old houses in Georgetown have.

Homeless in Georgetown

2009-08-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

This is Jan. Her two dogs are Sweetie and Honey. Jan is 62 years old and is trying to survive on a little more than $600 a month that she receives in Social Security disability benefits. She has been homeless for a long time. She is embarassed about her situation, and as a result, has broken off all contact with her five children.

My husband and I spotted Jan a few blocks from our house pushing a shopping cart loaded with all her possessions. This was during a week where temperatures each day were near 105 degrees. No one - human or animals - should have been out in that heat unless it was absolutely necessary, so we resolved to try and do something to help Jan.

The next morning, my husband found Jan sleeping under a tree near the HEB store. Ants were crawling over everything she owned. Jan explained that she was trying to walk back to California. She had taken a train to Texas to visit her brother in San Antonio, who had recently died, and she wanted to get back home. However, she didn't have any money. Her plan was to walk north to Fort Worth and then head west. She had gotten a ride from San Antonio to New Braunfels, but she had walked all the way from San Marcos to Georgetown pushing her shopping cart along the highway feeder roads. Some 10 police officers stopped and talked to her along the way, but no one did anything to help her. Finally, someone from the Williamson County Sheriff's Department sent a truck to pick her up and they put her in the San Gabriel Crisis Center on College Street for 10 days. After the 10 days allowed by Medicare/Medicaid expired, she was dumped back out on the street. This was the night we saw her.

My husband called The Caring Place, which put him in touch with the Georgetown Ministerial Alliance. Deacon Joe Ruiz from St. Helen's Catholic Church was on call that weekend, and he immediately came out to the HEB store and met Jan. He arranged for her and the dogs to spend a few nights at the San Gabriel Motor Court. In the meantime, my husband I and set about to find Jan a way home. Her dogs, who she had found in San Antonio, complicated the situation, but we understood how much they meant to her and we were determined to figure a way to get them back with her. Buses and trains wouldn't take the dogs and all the airlines we called said it was too hot for them to fly pets.

Laura Hobgood-Oster, a Southwestern University religion professor who spends countless hours each week working at the local animal shelter, came to the rescue for us. She said Continental Airlines had special cargo compartments that allowed them to carry pets throughout the year. So our next problem was to get a health certificate for the dogs so they could fly. Here again, Laura came to the rescue. She got a local veterinary clinic to give the dogs an exam and all their shots. She also found two crates that would be large enough for the dogs to fly in.

So once we had health certificates in hand, we made a reservation on Continental from Austin to Los Angeles. Deacon Joe and his church were generous enough to pay the cost of the ticket. In the meantime, several local residents (who will remain anonymous) helped pay the hotel bill so Jan could stay in the motel until it was time to go.

Yesterday, we got up at 4:15 a.m. and drove Jan and the dogs to the airport so she could catch her flight. We gave her a ticket for a bus that would take her out to the Santa Barbara area, where she claimed she had a part-time job waiting for her.

We'll probably never know what happens to Jan, but at least we know one thing - she and her dogs won't be homeless in Texas in 100-plus degree heat.

Spending a week with Jan and hearing her story really opened our eyes to the problem of homelessness in this country. It also showed us the best (and worst) of Georgetown.

602 E. 8th St.

2009-07-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a BEFORE picture of this house, because it was one of those houses that was in such bad shape, I would never dream of buying it. But someone did, and the transformation taking place is amazing. The first thing they did was clear out all the brush that was hiding house. Now you can actually see what it looks like! It has been repainted, and is now being remodeled inside. My neighbor, Paul, is helping with the renovations. This house is located just behind the big white Victorian house that was discussed in an earlier post.

The Old Sherman Hotel

2009-07-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Last week my husband and I went to the ribbon cutting for the newly remodeled Old Sherman Hotel at 1008 S. Main St. Cliff Hardesty and his company, ComProp Investments, did a great job on this remodel. This property used to be a huge eyesore in Old Town and now it is a beautiful commercial property just waiting for some new tenants. The building was originally built in 1924.

Foreclosed

2009-06-20T10:54:00.001-07:00

This beautiful Victorian house on College Street apparently went into foreclosure and was recently purchased. Let's hope the new owners can take care of it!

Neighborhood improvements

2009-06-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Since the city passed an ordinance last year prohibiting parking on lawns, the owners of two houses on College Street have put in new driveways.

308 E. University

2009-06-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

It looks like they are preparing to put a new foundation down on the property at 308 E. University. This was the site of a beautiful house that burned down several years ago. The columns from the original house have been saved in the front yard.

Demolition by neglect

2009-05-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago at work, I got a call from a man in Missouri who had heard a rumor that Southwestern had bought the house in Georgetown once owned by Civil War veteran John Coffee and was going to turn it into a museum.

I had to tell him there was no truth to the rumor, but the phone call got me interested in the house. I was able to locate it with the help of former Heritage Society President Scherry Chapman.

It is located at 1403 James St., which is near the big water tower in Old Town. One of the current owners, Jane Williamson, is a descendent of John Coffee, but apparently her husband has no interest in the old house. In 1997, they build a new house on the property. Meanwhile, the old house is overgrown with weeds, the roof is collapsing and there is a broken window in back, all of which are conditions that can cause a property owner to be cited for "demolition by neglect" according to Section 4.11 of the city's Uniform Development Code (UDC) which states that:

"No owner...of a property located in the Old Town Overlay District shall permit the property to fall into a serious state of disrepair so as to result in deterioration which would, in the judgment of the Historic District Planner and the Building Official, produce a detrimental effect upon the life and character of the property itself..."

There is a file with the history of this house in the Georgetown Library. Among its claims to fame: Sam Houston once slept there! It is a shame to see such historic homes being neglected like this. For more information on John Coffee, visit http://coffeecamp.org/bio1.shtml

The bridge to...

2009-05-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Biking through San Gabriel Park isn't going to be the same once the new bridge over the San Gabriel River is completed....I don't think these pecan trees are going to be with us much longer, either...

908 Pine St.

2009-05-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

This house at 908 Pine St. is going to look nice once the restoration is complete!

The Hyer House door is now up for bid!

2009-05-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Will Moore has finished his work on the Hyer House door and delivered it to the Georgetown Library, where it will be on display through May 31 and available for sale via a silent auction. For more information, visit the Georgetown Heritage Society web page at http://www.georgetownheritagesociety.com/.

Edwards Park

2009-05-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

The city has made some improvements to the park at the corner of Ash and 8th Streets, including adding some new play equipment.

7th and Ash Streets

2009-05-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

The lot at the corner of 7th and Ash Streets was cleared this week. Anyone have any idea what is going to go there?

The Hyer House Door

2009-05-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Will Moore is making great progress restoring the door to the historic Hyer House. He promises it will be ready in time to display it at the Heritage Society picnic May 24.

Maple and 13th Streets

2009-05-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

It is a shame that the city ever let an apartment complex be built right in the heart of Old Town, but at least the owners have recently given the complex a facelift. They even gave it a new name - Mid-Century Park.

Elm and 5th Streets

2009-05-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Construction has finally started on the lot at Elm and 5th Streets that was vacant for several years after a fire burned down the previous house. The new house is going to resemble an historic four-square.

913 College St.

2009-05-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

A new house is already going up at 913 College Street, where a previous house burned down earlier this spring. It will be interesting to see what it looks like!

Introduction

2009-05-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Around Old Town blog. As you know, Old Town Georgetown is changing rapidly - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I created this blog to help share what is going on in my neighborhood - both the good and the bad. The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own. If you have an item of interest for this blog, send it to ellenfinleydavis@yahoo.com.