WINTER 2017 2017 MOST ENDANGERED PLACES 2017 HONOR AWARDS BASSETT FARMS UPDATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS COMPRISED OF VOLUNTEERS FROM ACROSS THE STATE WHO BRING DIVERSE SKILLS AND INSIGHTS TO THE ORGANIZATION'S WORK. THE BOARD MEETS QUARTERLY AROUND THE STATE. OFFICERS BARBARA BRANNON SPUR DWAYNE JONES PRESIDENT Author, editor, and educator Barbara Brannon, PhD, is executive director of GALVESTON the Texas Plains Trail Region, the award-winning heritage tourism initiative of the Texas Historical Commission. Working with volunteers, community ANN BENSON MCGLONE leaders, elected officials, and travelers in fifty two West Texas counties from PRESIDENT-ELECT I-20 to the top of the Panhandle, she promotes historic preservation and eco- SAN ANTONIO nomic development on the local, regional, and state levels. A board member RICK MITCHELL of the Lubbock Heritage Society and a graduate of Leadership Texas, she TREASURER lives in Spur, Texas, the Tiny House Capital of America. AUSTIN SUE MORRIS LAZARA LINDEN DIRECTORS Sue Morris Lazara, a Cass County native, co-founded the Linden Heritage ROBERT BLUTHARDT Foundation and remains involved as the organization’s Vice President of SAN ANGELO Preservation and Education. A 1970 Phi Beta Kappa graduate from South- BARBARA BRANNON ern Methodist University, Sue worked in the early 1970s for the Los Angeles SPUR Times and pursued graduate studies at the University of Southern California in theoretical mathematics and statistics. Her career led to a Vice Presidency ANTHONY CROSBY at Diagnostic Research International, which has since been absorbed by in- MARSHALL ternational marketing giant WPP London. Sue has long supported the arts, COURTNEY HOFFMAN nature conservation, and preservation initiatives. She founded the Glendale AUSTIN Youth Orchestra, and played a lead role in multiple public restoration and adaptive use projects in Southern California, including the Eastlake Glen- SUE MORRIS LAZARA dale Doctors’ House, the Greco-Egyptian Alex Theatre, the Queen Anne LINDEN Goode House, and La Canada’s Craftsman Lanterman House. She has re- CHARLES LYNCH ceived state level awards in California and Texas, including the Preservation AMARILLO Texas Clara Driscoll Award. ROMAN MCALLEN DENTON GARY WILLIAMS EL PASO NYDIA TAPIA-GONZALES Gary L. Williams has served in the nonprofit sector for over forty years and HARLINGEN currently serves as the Senior Program Officer for the El Paso Community LYNN VOGT Foundation, where has worked since 1998. Gary is responsible for provid- DALLAS ing staff support to the Burkitt Foundation, a supporting organization of the Community Foundation, and is Coordinator of the Pass of the North GARY WILLIAMS Heritage Corridor Project. This project is designed to preserve and showcase EL PASO the historical, cultural, and natural legacies of the El Paso area, and to col- laborate with others on the development of tangible outcomes in the areas of historic preservation, heritage tourism, and heritage education. He has STAFF a B.A. in Anthropology/Sociology from the University of Texas at El Paso EVAN THOMPSON and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Utah. Gary and his EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR wife Cindy have two children and love living in El Paso and exploring the AUSTIN Southwest borderlands. Cover: an abandoned petrified wood gas station near Glen Rose is representative of the fate of early roadside commercial architecture. 2 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR 6 12 This has been a busy year, reinforcing the value of making strong grassroots connections across the state through education and advocacy. We learned from one another at our successful three-day Summit in Waco in February and our day-long gathering in San Angelo in May. We worked together to prevent House Bill 3418 from undermining local preservation ordi- nances. And we have forged new friendships 16 20 through collaborative work to save endangered places across Texas. We look forward to rein- forcing these relationships at next year’s Summit in Brownsville, working with local partners to CONTENTS share the remarkable heritage of the Lower Rio Grande Valley with you. Our goal as a statewide organization is to ensure 4 | MOST ENDANGERED: NATIONAL AWARENESS that our programs are reaching all of Texas. The annual Honor Awards and Most Endangered Places list are effective programs that provide the opportunity to bring statewide attention to 6 | EAST EL PASO FIRE STATION (No.5) issues and projects large and small. As you read about them in this issue, think of other places at risk in your own community and let us know about them. We are dependent on our members 9 | THEMATIC SPOTLIGHT: HISTORIC BARNS for information about what is endangered, and when we are able to recognize great projects with Honor Awards we can point to them as models for others to learn from. 12 | 2017 MOST ENDANGERED PLACES As the year draws to a close, we will be launch- ing our Annual Fund campaign with a goal of raising $25,000. We cover a lot of ground with a 16 | 2017 HONOR AWARDS small organization, and the unmet needs in our state for preservation education and advocacy are great, particularly in our smaller cities and 20 | SAVING A PLACE FOR PRESERVATION towns. A successful Annual Fund means that we will have the resources to respond and extend our programs to save our irreplaceable heritage. Thank you for your continuing support. 24 | LEGISLATIVE UPDATE EVAN THOMPSON 25 | LOOKING BACK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 3 Dr. James Lee Dickey House Taylor, Williamson County 2008 Most Endangered Places MOST ENDANGERED PLACES UPDATE MOST ENDANGERED: NATIONAL AWARENESS Two Preservation Texas Most Endangered Places have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. 4 Two sites that have been included on our Most Endangered Places list have been formally added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service. This designation will make the properties eligible for historic preservation tax credits that will help reduce the cost of rehabilitation. 1 Dr. James Lee Dickey House Waco native James Lee Dickey (1893-1956) graduated from medical school and moved to Taylor in 1921. He was the city’s only African-American doc- tor and provided medical care for African-Americans in Williamson County and the surrounding area. Dr. Dickey later opened an emergency hospital. Dr. Dickey emerged as a local leader in community health and in the ad- vancement of civil rights. In 1952 he was named “Most Outstanding Cit- izen” by the Taylor Chamber of Commerce, the first African American so honored. This story made national news, landing him a seven-page article 2 in the Saturday Evening Post. On his death, the Texas Legislature passed a resolution honoring his lifetime of achievement and service. 1 Dr. James Lee Dickey and family National Register listing for the 1926 house recognizes the significance of 2 Dickey emergency hospital, Williamson County 3 Panhandle Inn, 2012 Most Endangered Places Dickey’s contributions to his community and to his state as the Jim Crow era 4 Panhandle Inn interior faded and the modern civil rights era emerged. Future plans call for the house to become the Dickey Museum & Multipur- pose Center. The total cost of rehabilitation, led by Jennifer Harris and the Blackshear/O.L. Price Ex-Student Association of Taylor, is expected to be over $500,000. In June, Williamson County Commissioners approved a grant of $100,000 toward the project. Additional grant funding is expected from the U.S.D.A. 3 Panhandle Inn The Panhandle Inn was constructed in 1924 in Panhandle, the seat of Carson County. It met the need for lodging, meeting and social space as the region’s oil economy boomed. The distinctive structure was designed in the Pueblo Revival style by Amarillo-based architect E. F. (Emmett Floyd) Rittenberry (1887-1964). With its central location, the Inn served as “Panhandle’s Meeting Place” even as the town fell into decline. It closed its doors in 1970 and stood vacant for over thirty years until the Panhandle Inn Foundation was formed in 2011 to facilitate its restoration. The Foundation’s mission is “to preserve, restore and maintain the historic Panhandle Inn for the educational and historical benefit of current and future generations.” Inclusion of the Panhandle Inn on the National Register recognizes its con- tribution to the “economic, civic and social life of Panhandle” as well as its importance as the last surviving example of a large commercial building in 4 the Pueblo Style in the area. In 2016, the Foundation spent $250,000 to- 3 5 The East El Paso Fire Station (No. 5) in 1916, eight years after its construction. From El Paso Fire Department: A Pictorial History, 1882-1982 by Louis Lieggi. MOST ENDANGERED PLACES 2017 EAST EL PASO FIRE STATION (No.5) A 1924 Democratic Primary polling site's history as an epicenter for civil rights. 6 On July 26, 1924, Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon (1883-1966) was denied the right to vote in the Texas Democratic primary because he was black. He attempted to cast his vote at East El Paso Fire Station (No. 5), located at 2317 Texas Avenue in El Paso. This building still stands and should be considered for National Historic Landmark (NHL) designation. It meets the criteria outlined in the National Park Service's Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting Rights theme study (2007). Dr. Nixon and the United States Supreme Court The El Paso chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. brought a successful lawsuit on Dr. Nixon’s behalf, Nixon v. Herndon (1927), in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that the 1923 Texas law stipulating that “in no event shall a negro be eligible to participate in a Demo- cratic primary election held in the State of Texas” violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.