Title
Conduct a Public Hearing to Consider/Discuss/Act on the Request by Tom Michero for Approval to Receive a Historic Marker for the House Located at 1108 Tucker Street.
Summary
MEETING DATE: February 6, 2014
DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT: Guy R. Giersch, Historic Preservation Officer
Jennifer Arnold, Planning Manager
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending approval of a historic marker for 1108 Tucker Street.
PRIORITY RATING: The property is listed as a medium priority building according to the 1985 Historic Resource Survey. Medium priority buildings contribute to the local history or broader historical patterns, but alterations have diminished the resource's integrity. The building is a significant example of architecture, engineering or crafted design.
ITEM SUMMARY: On January 2, 2014, the applicant submitted the necessary documentation to apply for a Historic Marker for the house located at 1108 Tucker (also known as the Jesse Graves House).
The purpose of the Historic Marker Program is to encourage owners of historic properties to become actively involved in the preservation of McKinney's historic past through the recognition of historic events, people, and architecture. The applicant has submitted a written narrative relating the history of the various families that have owned the property or resided at 1108 Tucker Street and the role they played in McKinney's history.
The Jesse Graves House, constructed in 1925, is an example of an Arts and Crafts style bungalow. Typically, this style has a low-pitched gabled roof with wide overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, and brackets that support the overhanging eaves. The original wood, lap-sided, single-story house incorporates simple ornamentation. A broad porch, supported by large, square, columns stretches the entire width of the front of the house. The deep porch blocks the sun in the summer and allows the sun to hit the front of the house in the winter. The broad pediment of the porch is separated by an 8" frieze course. There is a large vent centered in the gable which serves to vent the attic which helps keep the house cool in the summer. The four-over-one, double-hung windows are very typical for this style of building.
The house has been well maintained and the exterior of the house appears to be essentially unaltered with the exception that about ten years after the home was built, the sleeping porch was converted into an enclosed room.
Albert and Frances Graves were early settlers who moved from Missouri to McKinney in 1857. Together, they had 7 daughters and 3 sons, including James "Wick" Graves, who was 9 when he and his parents moved to McKinney. James Wickliffe "Wick" Graves and Fannie (Fox) Graves had a son Jesse G. Graves in 1887. James "Wick" enlisted in the Confederate Army when he was 16 as part of Captain Alfred Johnson's Texas Spy Company, CSA. After the war he moved back to McKinney where he was an active member in the First Christian Church and the I.O.O.F. He served as an alderman for several years and his sister Mary Quintillia Graves married "Tuck" Hiss who was a cousin to Frank and Jesse James.
Jesse Graves, in 1887, was the son of "Wick" and Fannie (Fox) Graves. He was the son of Wick and Fannie Graves. He graduated from McKinney High in 1905 and went to work as a clerk for Kistler & Bristol Grocers. He married Mary Ann Duffy and they had three children. In 1922 he purchased the property at 1108 Tucker Street from his uncle and developer George W. Fox and constructed the house at 1108 Tucker Street.
Jesse and Mary Graves lived at 1108 Tucker for twenty years. During their time on Tucker Street Jesse served on the Board of First Christian Church for several years. In 1945 they sold the house it has since been owned by 11 different individuals. Graves passed away in 1971.
ASSESSMENT: Staff believes that the applicant has met all of the requirements to obtain a Historic Marker under the Historic Neighborhood Improvement Zone Program (Ordinance 2013-11-110). Therefore, Staff is recommending approval of a Historic Marker for 1108 Tucker Street.
Under Ordinance 2013-11-110, if the HPAB approves the Marker, the applicant will be responsible for purchasing and displaying the Historic Marker.
Also, under Ordinance 2013-11-110, if the HPAB approves the Marker, the applicant may make application for a Level 1 tax exemption (100% exemption of the City's ad valorem taxes for a period of 7 years) providing the building has architectural integrity and has been properly rehabilitated/restored and maintained.