NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National RegisterSBR of Historic Places Registration Draft Form 1. Name of Property Historic Name: Willie Wells House Other name/site number: NA Name of related multiple property listing: NA 2. Location Street & number: 1705 Newton Street City or town: Austin State: Texas County: 78704 Not for publication: Vicinity: 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following levels of significance: national statewide local Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D State Historic Preservation Officer ___________________________ Signature of certifying official / Title Date Texas Historical Commission State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. _______________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ Signature of commenting or other official Date ____________________________________________________________ State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that the property is: ___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register. ___ removed from the National Register ___ other, explain: _____________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Willie Wells House, Austin,SBR Travis County, Texas Draft 5. Classification Ownership of Property X Private Public - Local Public - State Public - Federal Category of Property X building(s) district site structure object Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 1 0 buildings 0 0 sites 0 0 structures 0 0 objects 1 0 total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0 6. Function or Use Historic Functions: DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling Current Functions: DOMESTIC: Single Dwelling 7. Description Architectural Classification: OTHER: Central Hall Principal Exterior Materials: WOOD Narrative Description (see continuation sheets 7-6 through 7-9) Page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Willie Wells House, Austin,SBR Travis County, Texas Draft 8. Statement of Significance Applicable National Register Criteria A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. X B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history. Criteria Considerations: NA Areas of Significance: ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION; ETHNIC HERITAGE: Black Period of Significance: 1912-1970 Significant Dates: 1912; 1924 Significant Person (only if criterion b is marked): Willie Wells (Willie James Wells) Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion d is marked): NA Architect/Builder: W. B. Loveless Narrative Statement of Significance (see continuation sheets 8-10 through 8-25) 9. Major Bibliographic References Bibliography (see continuation sheet 9-26 through 9-27) Previous documentation on file (NPS): _ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. _ previously listed in the National Register _ previously determined eligible by the National Register _ designated a National Historic Landmark _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Primary location of additional data: x State historic preservation office (Texas Historical Commission, Austin) _ Other state agency _ Federal agency _ Local government _ University _ Other -- Specify Repository: Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): NA Page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Willie Wells House, Austin,SBR Travis County, Texas Draft 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property: less than 1 acre Coordinates Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84: NA 1. Latitude: 30.247179° Longitude: -97.752842° Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary is the legal parcel (Property ID #302089) as recorded by Travis CAD: 881 SQFT OF LOT 9 BLK 28 & ALL OF LOT 10 BLK 28 SWISHER ADDN and shown on Map 2, accessed July 2, 2020. Boundary Justification: The boundary includes all property historically association with the building. 11. Form Prepared By Name/title: Terri Myers, Historian; Kristen Brown, Architectural Historian Organization: Preservation Central, Inc. Street & number: 823 Harris Avenue City or Town: Austin State: Texas Zip Code: 78705 Email: [email protected] Telephone: (512) 478-0898 Date: March 16, 2017 Additional Documentation Maps (see continuation sheets MAP-28 through MAP-29) Additional items (see continuation sheets FIGURE-30 through FIGURE-39) Photographs (see continuation sheets PHOTO-40 through PHOTO-45) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC. Page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Willie Wells House, Austin,SBR Travis County, Texas Draft Photographs Name of Property: Willie Wells House City, County, State: Austin, Travis County, Texas Photographer: Terri Myers Date Photographed: as September 8, 2019. Photo 1 Primary (West) and North Façades Photo 7 Camera facing southeast View: Front Yard across street to Church Photographed: September 8, 2019 Camera facing west Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photo 2 Primary (West) Façade and Porch Photo 8 Camera facing east/northeast Interior: View from Living Room to Kitchen Photographed: September 8, 2019 Camera facing east to rear wall Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photo 3 North Façade Photo 9 Camera facing south Interior: View from Kitchen/Dining to Living Room Photographed: September 8, 2019 Camera facing southwest to front wall Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photo 4 North Façade (1929 Addition; 1910 House Photo 10 Camera facing southwest Interior: Front (West) Bedroom Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photo 5 Photo 11 South Façade (1910 House; 1929 Addition) Interior: Rear (East) Bedroom Camera facing northwest Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photographed: September 8, 2019 Photo 12 Photo 6 Interior: Bathroom Rear (East) Façade Photographed: September 8, 2019 Camera facing west Photographed: September 8, 2019 Page 5 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Willie Wells House, Austin,SBR Travis County, Texas Draft Description The Willie Wells House at 1705 Newton Street is a small, one-story frame building in South Austin’s Bouldin Creek neighborhood. The house is side-gabled, with a partial-width front porch and a shed-roofed rear addition. When constructed in 1910, the house consisted of just two rooms on either side of a small central entry hall, removed c. 1929 when an addition was added to the rear of the house. The house has board and batten siding, plain wood porch posts, an original wood front door, and 4/4 wood sash windows that are replicas of the original windows replaced by 6/6 aluminum windows in the 1990s. Though the cornice returns are its main stylistic elements, the house conveys its historic vernacular form and design in its simple, side-gabled roof, central entrance, symmetrical facades, and board- and-batten siding. The house on a narrow, rectangular lot in a mostly residential neighborhood characterized by