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.

Blomquist House

Location

Blomquist House
1000 Est 14th
Austin, TX, 78702

Limerick-Frazier House

Location

Limerick-Frazier House
810 East 13th
Austin, TX, 78702

Chapman House

Location

Chapman House
901 East 12th
Austin, TX, 78702

E. F. Dennis House

Location

E. F. Dennis House
1706 East 12th
Austin, TX, 78702

I. Q. Hurdle House

HURDLE, ISAIAH QUIT HURDLE, ISAIAH QUIT (1886–1968). Isaiah Quit Hurdle, African-American minister and public school educator, son of Rev. Andrew Jackson Hurdle and Viney James (Sanders) Hurdle, was born in Greenville, Texas, on August 12, 1886. Raised on a farm in Hunt County, I. Q. Hurdle grew up in a family of seventeen children. His father, A. J. Hurdle, was a slave on a plantation in Dangerfield, Texas. However, he escaped during the Civil War and found refuge with a unit of Federal soldiers.

Location

I. Q. Hurdle House
1416 East 12th
Austin, TX, 78702

Connelly-Yerwood House

The [b]Connelly-Yerwood House, is an Eastlake-style cottage located in Austin, Texas. The structure was built in 1904 for Kate and Michael Connelly and their four children. In addition to his occupation as a stonemason and bricklayer, Connelly owned the Silver King Saloon at 307 E. Sixth Street. Eventually the population of the neighborhood began to change, as communities served by Samuel Huston College and St. Peter's M.E. Church were moving into the area. In 1926 the Connellys sold their home to an African-American doctor, Charles R.

Location

Connelly-Yerwood House
1115 East 12th
Austin, TX, 78702

German American Ladies' College

Location

German American Ladies' College
1604 East 11th
Austin, TX, 78702

Land Office Building

Location

Land Office Building
112 East 11th
Austin, TX, 78702

Haenel Store Building

Location

Haenel Store Building
1101 East 11th
Austin, TX, 78702

Arnold's Bakery

Built circa 1890, the Arnold Bakery located at 1010 E. 11th Street is an 1,800 square foot solid brick structure that has stood the test of time first as a bakery, later as a dinette and most recently an artist’s live/work studio. ARA bought the bakery in 2000 so that it could be renovated in a manner that would blend with the mixed-use development ARA has planned for the block. 
 

Location

Arnold's Bakery
1010 East 11th
Austin, TX, 78702
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