1823 Old Place

Significance

The Old Place is an example of early Texas frontier architecture from the years of Stephen F. Austin's colony, when Anglo American settlers were permitted to settle in Mexican Texas. Its original single room was built of roughly hewn cedar logs joined with mortise and tenon joints, and in later years that room was enclosed inside larger additions, which helped it survive. The cabin originally stood on the bank of Clear Creek south of Houston. In 1973 The Heritage Society moved it to Sam Houston Park and restored it, and it is now interpreted to show the hardships faced by the families who settled in Austin's Colony. The Historic American Buildings Survey documented it with measured drawings.

Climate risks tracked

Hewn cedar logs and hand cut joints are the character of this cabin, and they are also its greatest vulnerability. Constant Houston humidity, wind driven rain, and termites attack exposed wood, so the priorities are keeping log ends and sill logs dry, maintaining roof overhangs and drainage away from the base, and replacing decayed pieces in kind only where they cannot be consolidated. Sam Houston Park sits beside Buffalo Bayou, and the cabin rests close to the ground, so a flood can soak the lowest logs. Raising the grade around the building is not an option without altering its setting, so good site drainage, quick drying after storms, and monitoring for rot after high water are the practical measures. Shade trees nearby help with heat but must be kept clear of the roof in hurricane season.

Use the preservation assistant to talk through retrofit strategies for these specific threats.

Location

Nearby landmarks

• 1847 · Greek Revival (vernacular brick)

  Kellum-Noble House

• 1850 · Greek Revival

  Nichols-Rice-Cherry House

• 1870 · Greek Revival (simplified)

  1870 Rev. Jack Yates House

• 1891 · Vernacular Gothic Revival

  1891 St. John Church