The Heritage Association of San Marcos will present its 26th annual Tours of Distinction May 6 and 7, as part of heritage awareness. The tour highlights preservation of restored landmark homes and vintage buildings.
"It has been said that these tours provide a window to the birth of the town, the county and the state," says Robert Cotner, honorary chairman and Heritage president. "We encourage you, your friends and family to join us for a look through this window."
Nine sites are scheduled to be open for viewing in this Millennium Tours of Distinction 2000 including five private residences and four landmark, historic buildings, recalling how neighborhoods and local buildings looked at the turn of the twentieth century. Six of the sites are within one half mile of each other from San Antonio Street to Hopkins.
On
the tour will be the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, built in 1901. Its
earliest congregation dates to 1870. The building has been restored as a family
residence and architectural offices for owner, Jeff Kester. Also known as the
Fort Street Building, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Judge
W.D. Wood House at 326 W. Hopkins dating to 1883 is the earliest Victorian
residence remaining near downtown. The home is presently the Crystal River Inn
Bed and Breakfast as restored by Kathy and Mike Dillon. A small cottage at the
rear is connected to the Inn by a charming garden. The renewal of the interior
has been completed in time for the Tours.
Down
the street, another historic home at 834 W. Hopkins, this one belonging
to Karen and Karl Brown, holds prestigious heritage. The original acreage where
it now sits, was inherited by Civilia Cock Earnest from her father, Charles
S. Cock. The present house was built in 1909 for the Ansell family. The local
DAR was organized in this home in 1923. It is also identified with the early
history of Tours of Distinction, for being one of the first homes on the tour
in 1977, when the nationally recognized San Marcos Bicentennial Commission became
the Heritage Association of San Marcos.
Built
140 years ago of native limestone blocks 20 inches thick is the Burleson
- Knispel House at 1200 Lime Kiln Road. This house was home to Major Edward
Burleson and wife Emma Kyle, on land inherited from the estate of his father,
General Edward Burleson, one of San Marcos' noted citizens. Placed on the National
Register in 1979, this home now belongs to Rev. and Mrs. Doug Tipps who have
spent the last 10 years restoring it, a project still underway.
Details
of a 1920's bungalow at 903 W. San Antonio Street have been revived by
owner Dr. Barbara Trepagnier. It might be termed the sleeper on the tour as
it is full of surprises, according to tour chairperson, Frances Stovall. The
backyard of this home which includes a Japanese garden is worth the tour.
Nearby,
a Lemonade Respite for the tour goers will be held in the backyard gardens of
another lovely home located at 802 W. San Antonio Street, the home of
Dr. Joan Matthews.
Three other early buildings on tour are the Hays County Courthouse on Hopkins Street, built in 1909 as the fourth courthouse on that location two earlier buildings burned and one was torn down due to foundation settling; the Calaboose at 200 Martin Luther King Drive, a former jail dating back to 1873, which housed black prisoners and is now a present day African American History Museum; and the old, Italianate Hays County Jail, built in 1884 by noted architect Edward Northcraft. Although now in ruins, restoration plans are underway for the old jail.
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| Hays County Courthouse | The Calaboose | Hays County Jail |
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Tour headquarters for ticket sales will be the small rock house known as the Charles S. Cock House Museum 400 East Hopkins Street. This restored building was home to the second mayor of San Marcos in 1867. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it stands at the entrance to the Memorial Grove and River Walkway at Juan Veramendi Plaza on the San Marcos River.
Tour hours are 12 noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $8.00 and may be ordered from the Heritage Association of San Marcos, P.O. Box 1806, San Marcos, TX 78667-1806, or by calling 512-392-9997. For more information, contact Frances Stovall at 512-392-9997 or Ronda Reagan at 512-396-9001.
