HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/02/1994 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1994 - 7:00 PM
CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM
1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD
MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Halter, Chairman; Florace Kling, Joan Lamkin,
Lois Beach, Bill Lancaster, Greg Keith, Mary Jane
Hirsch, Vernon Schneider.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Gary Basinger, Deborah Jasek
STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent;
Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary
I. CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. by Gary Halter.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
There were corrections to the January 5, 1994, meeting. David Gerling stated
that on page two at the bottom, during the discussion of the house on the East
Bypass and 2818, he referred to the house as belonging to the Danby's. This
was not correct, it belonged to the Dowell's. Also, on page four during the
discussion of the houses being donated to A &M, the location was noted as
Round Rock, and the location is actually Round Top. A motion was made to
approve the minutes and seconded. The motion passed with no further
discussion.
III. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS:
No new applications to approve.
IV. RICHARD CARTER GRAVESITE RELOCATION SLIDE SHOW:
David Gerling said that several members had suggested showing the slides from
the Richard Carter grave relocation so that the new members could see them.
In September, 1991, Brazosland Realty, who had a buyer for the property just
north of Richard Carter Park, contacted the Committee and asked for help in
locating the gravesites which were located on the old Richard Carter homesite.
Some pictures of the original Carter family cemetery, which were taken in the
1960's by Rebecca Landman proved to be invaluable. Since the pictures had
been taken, all visible signs of the cemetery had been removed (headstones, and
iron fencing). The theory is that Culpepper wanted to develop the property and
didn't want to have to deal with the cemetery, so he obliterated it. It was
thought that the headstones may have been dumped down the well on the
Carter homesite, however, when the City acquired the property for the park, the
Historic Preservation Committee
Wednesday, February 2, 1994
Page 2
well was dug out and no headstones were found. To this day, the whereabouts
of the original headstones is not known. With the aid of Mrs. Landman's
pictures the Committee was later able to have Richard and Elizabeth Carter's
and Helen Ligon's headstones reproduced. Frank Carter's headstone had to be
guessed at. The Committee interviewed some people who had seen it, however
it was mostly done by speculation about what would have been put on a child's
headstone at that time. The unknown Carter family member's headstone stated
simply "Unknown Carter Family Member ", since no one knows what it looked
like. The original headstones were made of sandstone which is a fairly soft
stone that breaks easily and makes it susceptible to vandalism. The
reproductions were made twice as thick of granite, placed on a base, and
concreted in.
The pictures Mrs. Landman took were also used to help locate the graves
themselves. One picture showed what appeared to be one tree (but was actually
two) with an unusual branch pattern. By using the photo and lining up that
shape in the trees and walking back and forth on the access road, they were
able to determine where the photographer was standing when the picture was
taken. From another picture taken at the opposite angle, they were able to
determine an approximate area in which to begin searching for the graves.
Kling Engineering was hired to help locate the graves. A cemetery service was
hired to go in and clear away the brush and about six inches of soil. After this
was done the headstone base for Richard and the headstone base and footstone
for Elizabeth were found. Some hand tools were found in Richard Carter's
gravesite, which had been dug at some point. Also found were a few pieces of
the wrought iron fencing. It was estimated that the remains would be located
about four feet deep, therefore, they dug about 3 - 3 1/2 feet with the machine,
uncovering the last foot by hand. Once the remains were located each family
member was placed in a separate concrete vault which was labelled at the head
of the vault, so that when relocated to the new gravesite the remains would be
facing east.
In Richard's grave all that remained was a layer of what appeared to be dark
fertile potting soil about an inch thick. Elizabeth had been buried in a cast iron
coffin, which denoted wealth and was common in the northeast, but not in this
part of the country. It's not sure how the coffin got down here. Helen Ligon's
grave actually had skull and bone fragments found in it. It is still not known
who Helen was or her relation to the Carter family. The next grave was
unknown at the time, but later it was discovered that it was Frank Carter, the
youngest son who had died at age 12. The top of his wooden coffin was intact,
however, his remains were also dust. His was the oldest grave. There was also
an unknown family member next to Frank. A total of five graves were relocated
to the new site and a wrought iron fence placed around them.
The remaining slides showed the reinterrment ceremony and the Carter family
descendents who attended. Elizabeth Carter's family members, the Reed's,
would not attend, even though there are some of her descendents living north of
Bryan.
Joan Lamkin handed out some information on Richard Carter entitled "College
Station's First Settler ".
Gary Halter stated that Richard Carter's original land grant, signed by Stephen
F. Austin and Richard Carter, is in the Land Commissioner's office. Austin
issued all the leagues in Brazos County as part of Stephen F. Austin's Second
Colony. Elrey Ash with the City, had at one time, imposed over a map of
College Station another map showing original league lines, and it was very
interesting how many of the major thoroughfares in the City such as Texas
Avenue, follow those old original league lines. Bill Lancaster stated that he has
an abstract on his property that goes back to 1829.
Historic Preservation Committee
Wednesday, February 2, 1994
Page 3
Joan asked Gary if he could bring the old campus map that he has for the
committee to look at. He said he would. Gary commented that the new Carter
cemetery's position is roughly the same position as it was on the other piece of
property. It's as though it was just picked up and moved over.
Greg Keith asked if was possible to put markers on the original site if
permission could be gotten from Scott and White. Scott and White hasn't
responded well in the past. David said one reason they didn't respond before
may have been that they did not own the property yet when the committee
originally contacted them. Gary said that the committee would probably do
something on the new site stating where the original cemetery was located, but
the Committee could try to contact Scott and White again. The original site is
suppose to remain in a wooded state and not be turned into a parking lot. Gary
also suggested contacting Mayor Ringer to see if he would sign the letter that
will be sent to Scott and White so it would have more impact. Gary
recommended setting up a meeting with Scott and White first to discuss the
feasibility of marking the original Carter gravesites located on their property. It
was suggested that a group marker be put up instead of marking the original
site of each individual grave. Greg asked if it would have more impact if we
marked the site with a state marker instead of a city marker. Gary said he
thought you could accomplish the same thing with a city marker and landscape
the area, with a brick path set back off the street. Lois brought up the fact that
since this was private property, Scott and White may have problems agreeing to
this idea for insurance reasons.
V. AUDIO CASSETTE OF RICHARD CARTER REINACTMENT:
Joan Lamkin brought an audio cassette of the Richard Carter Reenactment
made during the time that Bryan was having the Harvey Mitchell celebration. It
gave a little bit of history on Harvey Mitchell and Richard Carter.
VI. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS:
Greg said he had a class with Professor Woodcock who mentioned that David
Godby, an architect employed at the Physical Plant at A &M, wanted to
reconstruct the old railroad depot on campus. Amy Hammons, a student who
had contacted the Historic Committee before, had done a report on the depot
and Greg had a copy of it, which included some computer enhancements of the
depot. Gary said the pictures in her report were not of the station that was the
most remembered. The station in the photo was moved onto campus and used
as a residence. Greg suggested talking to Godby and telling him that the
station the Committee is most interested in reproducing is the one in the movie
"We've Never Been Licked ", the one on all the calendars and that Jim Gaston
did a rendering of. Greg suggested inviting David Godby to the next meeting to
discuss this issue with him and see where he's going with it. Gary said that he
felt that before the University would commit to doing a project such as this, it
would have to tie in with the Bush Library in some way.
Greg said he and David Gerling met with Ed Hard from Planning on the Bicycle
Track and he was very receptive and enthusiastic. Ed told Greg and David that
he felt that it would definitely qualify for ISTEA funding as a railroad corridor
and also as a historic preservation path, however funding had already been
applied for for this year. It appears that it may be another 4 -6 years before
there is another call for applications. Ed said he would check on it for the
Committee. One idea discussed had the track going down the railroad corridor
on Wellborn and the other had it going down College, possibly tying it into the
Interurban Trolley. Greg said he would research and see if he could find a
trolley the same year and model. Gary felt that South College would be a good
place to put a marker (when and if its approved by the State) and a trolley,
Historic Preservation Committee
Wednesday, February 2, 1994
Page 4
possibly with both Bryan and College Station participating.
David said the Conference Center Advisory Board approached him with the idea
of putting together some type of book or collection of old stories on the Brazos
Valley. This would involve talking to a lot of people that are able to give verbal
stories. There a few people on the Conference Center Advisory Board that
would be willing to take microphones and tape any conversations with the
people they talk to. Joan suggested checking with the high school to see if the
students there might be able to do this as a senior citizen project. David
Gerling said he would call the school to see if they did those type of projects.
Gary Halter said that Deborah Balliew who did the history of College Station did
a lot of tape recorded interviews with some of the older residents of College
Station and they are in the University archives. A lot of those people are dead
now. Some of those interviews were transcribed. The City did not at that time,
and may not now, have an archival policy or library where you could store that
type information and that's why it went to the University.
Greg said that the Committee might get better quality work from college
students instead of high school students. Gary also stated that knowing who to
talk to and what questions to ask was important and that this may be a job for
someone on the committee to undertake. Joan said she would be interested in
working with the Conference Center Advisory Board to develop a plan to get that
project started. Joan said there was already a list of people to talk to from
when a video was done. Gary said there were people that may not be on the list
who would be good to talk to such as Dick Hervey, former Mayor who is still
alive. Lawrence Bravenec; Mrs. Burgess; Joyce Patronella Birdwell (her father
was Lou Patronella); old Army Lou; Bill Fitch; Pat Bowden and brother Jim
Bonnen; and Red Cashion, were names that needed to be on the list of people to
interview. Greg suggested having a different list of questions for each group,
since people in their 70's would remember different things than those in their
60's.
Joan Lamkin said that taking pictures at least every ten years was important.
Gary Halter agreed using the example that no one could find an old picture of
the original College Station City Hall (Cafe Eccell). The restaurant wanted a
picture to hang on the wall and no one has been able to locate one. Greg
suggested looking through old city newspapers to see if there was a picture
taken when City Hall opened. If someone could find out within a few weeks of
when it opened it would make the search easier.
David said that in order to inform citizens, and to get the historic plaque
program rolling again, he had placed an ad on the City information channel. He
also informed the Committee that Jane Kee with the City Planning Department
had contacted him about using bond money in the Northgate area to do some
facade development. The time frame would be between the 40's and the 60's.
She said she would like to meet with the Committee to get their ideas. David
suggested holding a special meeting, and noon on February 18th was agreed
upon. Gary said he would lean towards the 1940's time frame for reproducing
the facades at Northgate. Greg suggested taking out the existing parking
spaces and putting in a boardwalk. Greg asked what area at Northgate was
specifically being discussed and David told the Committee he understood it to
be everything from Wellborn up University to the Texaco station. Gary said
there was a special zone for that area that has to do with off - street parking and
the area doesn't have to meet the City's standards for off street parking. He
didn't remember the specifics, but stated that it allows for redevelopment
without imposing off - street parking requirements. Greg commented that he
wondered if Dudley's and Dixie Chicken for example would be allowed to remain
the same. He felt that the owners would have a hard time being convinced to
change their storefronts to another style.
Gary Halter discussed the Henkel Square project briefly stating that he wasn't
sure if the project would come off because of the money involved. Mrs. Bivey
Historic Preservation Committee
Wednesday, February 2, 1994
Page 5
owns the 26 buildings in Round Top. Three of those buildings were original to
Round Top with the remainder being moved there from somewhere else and
meticulously restored. Gary said there were several factors which hampered
the project. One was the uncertainty of whether the buildings are really
available. The McDonald Foundation out of Dallas gave away about 9 million
dollars last year and has expressed an interest in funding it and has talked to
Chancellor Mobley about it. Both Governor Clements and his wife belong to
that foundation board and are pushing this project. Supposedly, he has
convinced Mrs. Bivey to give them to A &M. The uncertainty here is that she
has also offered them to the University of Texas and the University of Houston
and could offer them to someone else. The Henkel Square Committee that Steve
Beachy and Gary are on, have been instructed not to contact Mrs. Bivey, so
they are working up a proposal to present to the McDonald Foundation
basically to fund this. A point that was brought up was what the impact might
be on Round Top if these buildings are moved. Also the cost involved in moving
that many buildings here and setting them up would be close to a million
dollars. That is with the understanding that the land itself would be donated by
the City. The University would like to tie the project in with the Bush Library.
Another $4 million would be needed to endow and maintain this project. Then
there is the problem of what would be done with the buildings after they are
moved here. Would they just sit there or would businesses move in
(restaurants, antiques, etc.) that would draw people in? The City of Round Top
does not want to get rid of the buildings, but they don't belong to Round Top,
they belong to the Bivey family. No one is sure of the exact value of the estate.
Supposedly Mrs. Bivey is also willing to donate, along with the buildings, a
warehouse full of furniture which has been rumored to have been appraised at
several million dollars. However, no one knows where that is and the Henkel
Square Committee is not allowed to contact her. Gary said the Committee
discussed the idea of leaving some of the buildings in Round Top (like the
Henkel House which was originally there) in order to mitigate the damage to the
community - possibly even donating the land to Round Top. Something else
that came up was that the brochure on Henkel Square states that The Texas
Pioneer Heritage Foundation manages the buildings. If there is such a
foundation it's not registered with the IRS or the Attorney General's office, nor
do they have a Tax Exempt ID number. It may be that the Foundation is Mrs.
Bivey, but there is no way to find out. At one point she was going to give the
buildings to the University of Houston but they could not come up with the
money to endow it, and she was concerned about what would happen to all her
work after she died. Lois said it would be nice if all the schools could get part of
it, because it was too much for any one organization - the cost of keeping it up
would be enormous. Greg said that even though it doesn't tie into the history of
A &M, it is Texas History. Gary said that it would seem that if the University
were going to spend that much money on the project, it should tie in some way
with the history of A &M, or the City, enhance the mission of the University, or
tie in with the Bush Library. Gary said he would try to bring the pictures and
information on the project to the next meeting.
VI. ADJOURN:
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
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