Historic Sites & Architecture

The East End District contains a significant number of historic/heritage sites with prior local, State, and/or Federal designation. Huston Tillotson University (representing the merger of Sam Huston College, founded in 1875, and Tillotson College, established in 1876), a faith-affiliated private university, is Austin’s oldest institution of higher learning and a charter member school of the United Negro College Fund. Rosewood, Booker T. Washington, Santa Rita, and Chalmers Court public housing projects, constructed as part of the Works Project Administration and the 1937 US Housing Act were among the first (if not the first) federally-funded public housing projects completed in the United States; and are still in operation. The French Legation (built 1840-41), originally the residence of the French chargé d’affaires to the Republic of Texas, still today sits atop Roberson Hill, just off East 11th Street and is operated as a museum by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The Legation building is considered Austin’s oldest existing residence. The original building of the George Washington Carver Museum is located adjacent to the Carver Cultural Center and Museum and the Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library. The building, originally constructed in 1926, downtown at 9th and Guadalupe Streets as the first home of the Austin Public Library, was in 1933 moved to Angelina Street and served for years as the “Colored Branch Library.” In 1979 the City of Austin constructed a new branch library in Central East Austin, adjacent to the original building, and began operation of the George Washington Carver Museum in the historic building. The Museum is now listed as Texas’ first African American neighborhood museum. The Texas State Cemetery (East 11th Street) was established in 1851 as the Republic’s official final resting place for elected officials, military heroes, diplomats, and dignitaries. The site contains the graves of significant Texans that include General Edward Burleson (served with Sam Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto and as Vice President of the Republic of Texas), Stephen F. Austin, General Albert Sidney Johnston, Governor Allan Shivers, Governor John Connally, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, and Governor Ann Richards. US Representative Barbara Jordan was the first African American buried in the Cemetery (1996). The Victory Grill (1945) is the sole remaining live music venue along the East 11th Street Corridor that links present day East Austin to the historic heyday of the African American live music scene of the past. The Grill is listed on state and national historic registers, and is a stop on the National Chitlin Circuit Trail. Within the heart of the District there are at least three churches first established more than 100 years ago and still active: Ebenezer Baptist, Wesley Methodist, and Metropolitan A.M.E.

Rogers - Lyons House

Location

Rogers - Lyons House
1001 East 8th Street
Austin, TX, 78702

Hernandez-Johnson Home

Location

Hernandez-Johnson Home
1000 East 8th Street
Austin, TX, 78702

Saint David Church

Location

Saint David Church
300 East 7th
Austin, TX, 78702

Sparks - Ledesma House

Location

Sparks - Ledesma House
1306 East 7th
Austin, TX, 78702

Duncan Washington House ("La Abogados Gueros")

Location

Duncan Washington House ("La Abogados Gueros")
1214 East 7th Street
Austin, TX, 78702

Johnson (Alfrida) House

Location

Johnson (Alfrida) House
1022 East 7th
Austin, TX, 78702

Briones House (Casa de Sueños: House of Dreams)

The Briones House, located in downtown Austin, is the largest and most prominent example of tinted concrete ornamentation on a building within Texas, a style of ornamentation introduced from Mexico in the 1920s that is unusual in the state. Genero P. Briones designed and constructed the home from 1947 to 1953, and, while he worked on projects in other states, this building—known locally as the Casa de Sueños, or House of Dreams—remains the best preserved example of his work. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 7, 1998.

 

Location

Briones House (Casa de Sueños: House of Dreams)
1204 East 7th St.
Austin, TX, 78702

Oakwood Cemetery

The oldest cemetery in the City of Austin, Oakwood is located southeast of the intersection of IH 35 and Martin Luther King Blvd. Its earliest recorded burial occurred in 1841, although the oldest surviving grave marker dares to 1842. The cemetery covers over 40 acres, and includes sections historically dedicated to Austin’s African-American, Latino, and Jewish populations. It became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1972 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 1985.

 

Citations:

Location

Oakwood Cemetery
1601 Navasota Street
Austin, TX, 78702

Oakwood Cemetery Annex

Location

Oakwood Cemetery Annex
1601 Comal Street
Austin, TX, 78702

Charles B. Moreland House

A Gothic house built in 1898 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 1985.

Location

Charles B. Moreland House
1301 East Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, TX, 78702
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