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Basse
Block
by Michael Barr
Anyone who has walked Fredericksburg's historic district has noticed
a number of homes and commercial buildings constructed of an unusual
building material that looks like cut stone but is really a prefabricated
concrete block known as Basse block.
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Sebastopol
House by Mike Cox
Limecrete was an early form of cast-in-place concrete made of just
the right mixture of lime, water and gravel. Doctor and chemist
John Park, who settled in Sequin in 1846, developed and patented
the process... While some 80 percent of the unique houses are gone
now, one striking example remains: Sebastopol.
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Celebrating
the Vereins Kirche by Michael Barr 7-15-20
Never
shake hands with a stucco man by Delbert Trew
If you have ever wondered why so many old houses are still standing,
it’s probably because the sides are coated with a concrete process
called stucco.
Dog
Trot Houses by Bob Bowman
Dog trot houses were built and occupied by East Texas’ earliest
settlers. Many of them migrated here in the early 1800s from the
Old South and brought southern customs, including the way buildings
were constructed with them.
Storm
Cellars by Bob Bowman
In the midst of a recent tornado outbreak, an oldtimer called and
asked if I remembered storm cellars...
New
rock wall piece of history by Delbert Trew
Recently I built a dry-stacked rock wall in Bull Canyon. By dry-stack
I mean building a rock wall using no mortar between the rocks. I
learned the method while visiting in Nashville, Tenn., years ago
where miles of such rock walls still stand after being built by
slaves in the early 1800s.
Shotgun
shacks cheap, practical by Delbert Trew
A memory or two involving the famous "long skinny houses" that graced
the West on both farms and ranches and later on during the many
oil booms and busts.
Book
spurs memories of ol' saddle houses by Delbert Trew
Recently while reading an old Western paperback, a chapter described
an old Western saddle house. This certainly brought back a lot of
pleasant memories for me as I recalled each of our saddle houses
down through the years...
A
Tour of Dog-Trots by Bob Bowman
If you’re a fan of dog-trot houses--and know what they are--here
is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss. The SFA Gardens of Stephen
F. Austin State University will host a tour of two historic Shelby
County dog-trot homes...
Steel
House by Byrone Brown
Sculptor and architect Robert Bruno has bequeathed to us his Steel
House, sometimes referred to as “The Metal Mansion”, just outside
of Lubbock in Ransom Canyon.
Saloon
doors knew how to swing by Delbert Trew
If every invention worked, looked and satisfied its purpose as well
as the swinging saloon door the world would be a much better place
to live. Don't laugh until you read further...
Indianola
Remnants by Mike Cox
Indianola, once the “Queen City of the West,” recovered from a killer
hurricane in 1875 but it did not survive a second devastating storm
in 1886... If you want to see some of Indianola’s stately Victorian
houses, just go to Victoria or Cuero...
Cementville
and the Abandoned Quarries
Rock
Fences by Mike Cox
"While rock fences also are known as “German fences,” research
by University of Texas graduate Laura Knott, a landscape architect
specializing in historic preservation revealed that dry-laid fences
did not originate in Germany. Rather, the style used in Texas and
elsewhere in the South seems to have been modeled after rock fences
common to Great Britain."
To
Build a House II by C. F. Eckhardt
Adobe Houses
"...Indians did not build in adobe. Adobe was brought to the
Americas by the Spanish. Adobe is mud brick, made with mud and straw-the
same bricks the Hebrews in Egypt were told to make without straw.
Finding the right kind of dirt to make adobe from was sometimes
tricky..."
To
Build a House by C. F. Eckhardt
Texas Log Cabins and Log Houses
The first house a man might build, at least in East and Central
Texas, was a log cabin. Log cabins, by the way, looked nothing like
the log houses usually called 'log cabins' today. The most common
size was 12" x 14", usually the logs were not dressed...
Dog-Trot
Houses by Clay Coppedge
Driving west on State Highway 36 toward Gatesville, just past Flat,
if you look at just the right time at the right place you can see
an old dog-trot house sitting about 100 yards off the road...
Victorian
Secrets
Victorian Architecture: Painted Ladies, Gingerbread and Carpenter
Gothic in Texas.
The
Quito Quarry
Santa Rosa sandstone east of Barstow
Lost
Buildings of the "Macaroni" Railroad in Inez, Texas
Photos and text by Sara Duncan
Railroad laborers' cabins
Austin's Moonlight Towers by Johnny Stucco
Officially recognized as state archeological landmarks
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Quarry
Quandary
Texas’ Untoward Underground by Brewster Hudspeth
Buildings
inside Buildings by John Troesser
Little Church in the Warehouse (Fort Worth)
The Siddon-Barnes Log Cabin, Chico, Texas
History in the Hotel Lobby, Austin, Texas
Limestone
Fence Posts by Brewster Hudspeth
Ten Things You Need to Know About Limestone Fence Posts
Juan's
Cabin by Bob Bowman
The still-standing log cabin of Juan Antonio Badillo, one of a handful
of Tejanos who died at the Alamo on March 6, 1836
The
Church Lights by Bob Bowman
When the church decided to phase out the old kerosene lights for
safety reasons, Clark went to Jefferson Lighting Company of Ann
Arbor, Michigan, and told them what he wanted. The reproduction
fixtures were custom-made for the church down to the ornate decorations
and adapted to electricity.
Revisiting
Outhouses by Bob Bowman
The only existing East Texas outhouse ever built by the Work Projects
Administration
Saving
Sallie's Home by Bob Bowman
The proud old house looked as if it might fall down. Turkey vultures
perched on its roof like sinister messengers of doom.
The
Millard Sorghum Silo of Nacogdoches by Robert Rand Russell
That old red brick silo, sound and plumb as it was in 1915 due to
the Old World craftsmanship of John "Dutch" Heaberlin and the enterprising
Jesse Millard, Sr., prevails as a witness of East Texas history
and prosperity... Another landmark casting a shadow. Now this one
also shines with a story...
Outhouses
by Bob Bowman
The old-fashioned outhouse, which served thousands of rural East
Texans before indoor bathrooms became affordable, has again become
fashionable, but not as a working privy. It is showing up in historical
displays, as art and in advertisements.
The
Corn Crib by Bob Bowman
Another
Megargel Landmark: the Megargel High School Gym by Jamo C.
Powell, Colonel (Ret.) US Army
The
Alamo, San Antonio, Texas by John Troesser
Temple
to the Brave, Beaumont, Texas by John Troesser
The
Top Ten Facts About The Construction of The San Jacinto Monument
The
Starr Family Mansion by Archie McDonald
The
Muldoon Quarry - A Sedimental Journey
The
Castle Builder by Bob Bowman
Masons:
Building Temples in East Texas by Archie McDonald
Yoakum's
Library
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