Title
Conduct a Public Hearing to Consider/Discuss/Act on the Request by Thomas and Cala Pence for Approval of a Historic Marker for a House Located at 506 West Hunt Street
Summary
COUNCIL GOAL: Enhance the Quality of Life in McKinney (5C: Continue to market and highlight McKinney as a unique destination for residents and visitors alike.)
MEETING DATE: August 1, 2019
DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT: Guy R. Giersch, Historic Preservation Officer
Jennifer Arnold, AICP, Director of Planning
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending approval of a historic marker for 506 West Hunt Street.
PRIORITY RATING: The property is listed as a high priority building according to the 2015 Update of the Historic Resource Survey. A high priority building contributes significantly to local history or broader historical patterns; is an outstanding or unique example of architecture, engineering or crafted design; retains a significant portion of its original character and contextual integrity; meets in some cases, criteria for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and/or is eligible for a Texas Historical Marker.
ITEM SUMMARY: On July 18, 2019 the applicant submitted the necessary documentation to apply for a historic marker for the house located at 506 West Hunt Street known as the Fred J. Emerson 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 506 West Hunt Street and the role they played in McKinney’s history.
The Fred J. Emerson House was built in 1909 by W. J. Higgins. It is an example of a vernacular treatment of late Folk Victorian and Prairie Style influences. The house is a two story wood frame house constructed on a pier and beam foundation. The house has low pitched hipped roofs. The front porch has a gabled portico indicating the location of the front door. The house is covered with wood, lap siding. The porch extends midway to the right across the front of the house and down the right elevation and is supported by a Tuscan columns. The house is fenestrated with a variety of one-over-one windows, there are five leaded glass windows on the exterior of the house. The front door is a large glass door with sidelights and a transom.
The house remains virtually unchanged since it was constructed in 1909. The front steps and a portion of the foundation skirting has been constructed using brick. The remainder of the front porch is restored using a battered wood foundation. The porch columns have been restored.
Historical Figures Associated with the House:
Fredrick Jennings Emerson (1872 - 1929)
• Fred Emerson was born to Turner T. Emerson and Emma Hudson in 1872 in McKinney, Texas.
• Turner T. Emerson was the Mayor of McKinney at the time of Frederick’s birth Fred’s father, Turner, and his grandfather, Francis, operated a private bank, F. Emerson & Co. which eventually become McKinney’s first nationally chartered bank opening in 1882. The bank was housed at 109 N Kentucky Street in what is the oldest building on the Square, circa 1875 and today is the home to The Red Canoe, formerly Snug.
• Fred attended McKinney schools and joined the family business in 1888. Fred was a cashier at the bank. Cashiers were bank officers. Fred resigned from the bank in 1916. He joined up with Joe Largent to form a real estate company. He sat on the Texas Cotton Mill Board of Directors. He worked as a special representative for the Federal Reserve of Dallas and opened another national bank in Wiley, Texas.
• He was a well-known breeder of Jersey cows. Fred Emerson died in 1929 at the age of 56.
• Fred married Fannie Foote, grand-daughter of Dr. G. A. Foote, in 1894. They had one daughter Florence. In 1906 Fred divorced Fannie and married Laura O’Brian that same year and remained married for 23 years until he died in December of 1929.
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Laura O’Brian (1888-1989)
• Daughter of David W. O’Brian and Elizabeth Allen. Married Fred Emerson at the age of 18.
• Laura was very active in the community. In 1915 she was elected President of the Pierian Club, a group of married women dedicated to social service and the arts. She was part of the Missionary Society of the First Christian Church along with the McKinney Bridge Club.
• Laura died in 1989 at the age of 101.
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First Baptist Church Parsonage Residents (1932 -1956)
• The house at 506 West Hunt was purchased in 1930 following the death of Fred Emerson. Four ministers lived in the house for a period of time. John Harris Cozad (1884 - 1944), Cozad charismatic personality helped guide the church through hard financial times.
• Robert A. Clifton (1891-1961) was a native of Haskell, Texas. He went to Baylor, graduated, worked in Brazil and eventually came to McKinney shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Dr. Clifton resigned from the church and returned to Gilmer and died there in 1967.
• D.D. “Duke” Seger (1906-1992) was hired in 1947. He was born in St. Louis in 1908 and moved to Texas in 1942. He moved to Port Author in 1950 and died in Grandbury in 1992.
• Charles E. Meyers (1918-2013) came on board in 1951. A new parsonage was built on Finch Street and the church sold the Hunt Street parsonage to grocer Nelson P. Judd. Reverend Meyers moved to McAlister in 1961 and died in Jackson, Mississippi in 2013.
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 2015-12-105). Therefore, Staff is recommending approval of a Historic Marker for 506 West Hunt Street.
Under Ordinance 2015-12-105, if the HPAB approves the Marker, the applicant will be responsible for purchasing and displaying the Historic Marker.
Also, under Ordinance 2015-12-105, if the Historic Preservation Advisory Board 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. The building must have a residential use in order to qualify for the tax exemption.